During the Worldwide Developers Conference 2023 (WWDC 2023) in June, Apple announced watchOS 10 alongside many other software-related updates for the entirety of Apple's products. Rollout of the new software releases were meant to happen in a staggered manner and the watchOS 10 update has now become available to all. This means that Apple Watch users can download and install it onto their compatible smartwatches without having to be beta testers.
The new watchOS 10 update brings a new visual language to apps enabling users to see more information at a glance. These include a new Smart Stack to show relevant widgets right when they’re needed, new watch faces, and much more.
Also read: Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2: India price and new features
New visual design and Smart Stack
With watchOS 10, Apple Watch apps such as Weather, Stocks, Home, Maps, Messages, World Clock, and others, now utilise more of the Apple Watch display to showcase more information with each glance.
There is also a new Smart Stack containing widgets that display timely information that adapts to the user’s context. For example, at the beginning of the day, the Weather app will show the forecast, or, when travelling, the Smart Stack app will show boarding passes from Wallet.
Moreover, Control Center is now accessible using the side button, making it easy to quickly open it at any time, over any app.
New watch faces
The watchOS 10 update introduces five new watch faces: Snoopy, Palette, Solar Analog, Nike Globe, and Modular Ultra for Apple Watch Ultra.
Cycling
When a cycling workout session is started from the Apple Watch in watchOS 10, it will automatically show up as a Live Activity on the iPhone and, when tapped, will utilise the full screen. Workout Views, such as Heart Rate Zones, Elevation, Race Route, Custom Workouts, and a new Cycling Speed view, have been optimised for the display size of the iPhone, which can be mounted to a bike’s handlebars for convenient, easy viewing during a ride.
Also, with watchOS 10, the Apple Watch can now automatically connect to Bluetooth-enabled cycling accessories, such as power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors.
Compass
With the watchOS 10 update, the Compass app on Apple Watch automatically generates two new waypoints when available: A Last Cellular Connection Waypoint will tell the last place with cellular reception, which might be useful for checking messages or making a call. In case of emergencies, a Last Emergency Call Waypoint will estimate where on the route the device had the last connection to any available carrier’s network so that an emergency call could be made.
Mental Health
With the Mindfulness app in watchOS 10, users can log their momentary emotions and daily moods. Users can turn the Digital Crown to scroll through engaging, multidimensional shapes to choose how they are feeling, select what is having the biggest impact on them, and further describe their feelings.
In the Health app in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, users can see valuable insights to identify what might be contributing to their state of mind.
Support for Group FaceTime audio
With watchOS 10, users can now initiate playback of a FaceTime video message and view it directly on Apple Watch. Additionally, Group FaceTime audio is now supported on Apple Watch.
Availability
The new watchOS 10 update is available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later, and requires iPhone XS or later running iOS 17. “Not all features are available on all devices and in all regions,” Apple noted.
Microsoft's AI team has made a huge blunder by leaking 38 TB of the company’s private data. A report has revealed that this data contained confidential information such as passwords for Microsoft services, secret keys, and over 30,000 internal messages from more than 350 Microsoft employees using Microsoft Teams.
According to a report by Wiz, the tech giant’s AI team has made a collection of training data public, which consisted of open-source code and AI models used for image recognition. After that, a link from Azure was provided to people who visited Github storage that can be used to download these models.
Also read: CoWin breach: What sensitive data of yours may be part of this leak?
Things went south when the link provided by the Microsoft AI team gave the random people access to not just check what was in the Azure storage account, but also gave them access to disrupt the system, including the ability to make changes like uploading, overwriting, or deleting files.
Further, the report revealed that the Shared Access Signature tokens, an Azure feature, was the root of this problem. It provided the special links that could be used to access Azure storage data, but the problem here was that this particular link was meant to give full access to the user. Typically, there may be some restrictions and limitations in the links.
Also read: WhatsApp data leak has 500 million accounts’ info up for sale on dark web
It was also mentioned in the report that Microsoft’s private data was exposed back in 2020 but the professionals informed the company on June 22, 2023. Afterwards, these Shared Access Signature tokens were reportedly taken care of within two days. The problem was fully resolved by Microsoft in August, according to the report.
Microsoft also gave assurance to the people that no private data of customers and the company was leaked.
Google has announced a new ‘live pointers’ feature for its presentation app Google Slides. This new feature aims to boost collaboration in Google Slides. It allows multiple people to see each other’s mouse pointers in real-time.
“To boost collaboration in Google Slides, we’re introducing live pointers, a new feature that allows you and your colleagues to see each other’s mouse pointers in real-time,” the tech giant said in a Workspace Updates blogpost on September 18.
Also read: How to use Google Docs, Slides and Sheets in Offline mode
With this update, co-creators can easily point out specific text or visual elements within a Slide in order to highlight important information and content.
The live pointers feature will help to build connections when you're collaborating in real-time with others.
If you haven't received this feature yet, just wait a little more as it is currently rolling out.
How to use live pointers in Google Slides?
This feature is off by default, so you have to enable this feature by following the below steps.
Step 1. Open Google Slides.
Step 2. Go to View.
Step 3. From the drop-down menu, select the Live pointers option.
Step 4. Then click on show my pointer.
Alternatively, you can turn the feature on by using the pointer icon in the toolbar.
It’s important to note that live pointers will remain visible across all slides until you turn them off.
To hide collaborator pointers for the current session, navigate to the present mode, or go to View > Live pointers > show collaborator pointers.
In our opinion, as the new live pointers feature facilitates real-time collaboration among multiple users working on the same presentation by allowing collaborators to see each other's mouse pointers, it makes it easier to communicate and coordinate while editing or presenting Google Slides.
Earlier this month, Google introduced new zoom keyboard shortcuts for Google Slides on web to help you zoom in, zoom out, or scale to 100 per cent. Additionally, you can now smoothly zoom in or out in Slides using the trackpad or mouse wheel with a modifier key (cmd/ctrl), making it easier to control your view of Slides.
Last week, Apple launched the most awaited iPhone 15 series along with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra second generation. As usual, the tech giant has rolled out four models in the iPhone 15 series. They are the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Similar to last year, the iPhone 15 Plus appears to have been sidelined by the users. On the contrary, it seems that the iPhone 15 and the high-end Pro Max have become the favored models in the series. Let's take a look at which iPhone 15 models are the most and least popular among users.
According to Google Trends, the iPhone 15 is the one that has been searched by most people. However, some users might also use the “iPhone 15” term to look for other models if they are not familiar with the specific names. Additionally, The Economic Times revealed in a report that the new iPhone 15 series has won many hearts. If compared to last year, then about 20-25 percent more pre-bookings have been done this year.
Also read: Why you should buy the iPhone 15 or skip it altogether and save your money
The iPhone 15 gave all the reasons to users to love it. Being the standard model, the smartphone is offering a lot this year, and that too at the same prices as last year. However, the iPhone 15 is not the only favourite smartphone among users. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is also expected to be sold at an increased amount this year. Apple is also said to have increased launch stock up to 3,00,000 units.
Also read: Get the iPhone 15 for as low as ₹12,100 with the Apple Trade-in program
Now let’s get to the least popular iPhone 15 model. Being the middle child, this could be the iPhone 15 Plus. Why? Because people either look to purchase the standard model or the high-end variants. The iPhone 15 Plus is the same smartphone as the iPhone 15. The only difference is that it has a bigger battery and display on which even I don’t want to spend ₹10,000 more.
OnePlus has finally confirmed its first budget tablet - The OnePlus Pad Go. The Go will succeed the OnePlus Pad which is a high-end tablet. The Chinese brand rolled out its first tablet in India on the 25th of April and is now set to drop another tablet in the country. The brand has confirmed the launch date of the upcoming OnePlus Pad Go as October 6th. Additionally, along with the launch announcement, the company has also revealed the first look of the tablet, which shows a lot of resemblance in design with its predecessor.
The OnePlus Pad Go shares a lot of design elements similar to the previously launched tablet. It will have a curved-edge design and a circular camera module right at the centre of the back. Next up, there are two different textures on the back, matte and glossy. OnePlus revealed the Pad Go in the ‘Twin Mint’ colour. This colour option is very similar to the one we have seen in the OnePlus Pad.
Also read: OnePlus Pad Go first look: OnePlus India teases new tablet to launch soon
As for the specifications, the brand has not revealed much except that it would feature a 2.4K resolution display with a 7:5 aspect ratio, confirmed the OnePlus COO, Kinder Liu. The COO further confirmed that the OnePlus Pad Go will run on OxygenOS 13, which is based on the Android 13 operating system. However, there are rumours afoot that it might launch with an Android 14-based skin out of the box.
Kinder Liu also talked about the Content Sync feature. This will help users to share files between OnePlus tablets and smartphones. Furthermore, for multiple device compatibility, there will be a shared hotspot that can help in data sharing, screen mirroring, notification syncing, and call management.
Also read: OnePlus finally reveals the price of the OnePlus Pad on April 25 as promised
Talking about price and availability, the price details are still not officially disclosed but it is speculated to launch around ₹20,000. That being said, it will sell through Flipkart in India, as confirmed by the OnePlus Pad Go’s microsite.
Music streaming service YouTube Music gained an ‘activity’ bar with mood filters back in 2020. This bar provides users with a dedicated personalised homepage full of playlists perfectly suited for the selected mood. Now, many users are noticing new mood filters in YouTube Music.
According to a report by 9To5Google, YouTube Music has gained five new mood filters. The new filters are: Cry, Party, Romance, Feel good and Sleep.
Also read: YouTube Music In India: Ten steps for mastering the new music streaming app from Google
After receiving the new mood filters, several users shared them on Reddit.
Similar to the existing filters – Commute, Energize, Focus, Relax, and Workout – selecting multiple filters will give you a mix of all the selected filters.
The new mood filters are starting to appear on mobile apps and the web client, but have not yet been widely rolled out. The usual timeline for such feature rollouts is about 2-3 weeks.
Last month, YouTube introduced a new personalised music discovery feature for YouTube Music. According to the company, the Samples tab is a seamless feed of short-form video segments to get you to your new favourite music. Powered by the world’s largest catalogue of music videos, this personalised feed explores the depths and breadth of the YouTube Music library so that there’s always something new to listen to. Moreover, with each sample, you can quickly add the song to your collection, share it with friends, create your next favourite playlist, kick off a great new radio station, watch the full video, visit the album page, or even use the song to create your own Short. And for artists, the Samples tab provides another way to find a new audience and build a community on YouTube.
Not only does the HP Omen 16 improve upon its previous design flaws but it does so with a clear focus on maintaining the laptop's famous cooling performance. The use of the AMD Ryzen 7840HS processor further expands the usability of HP Omen 16 in terms of efficiency. And on top of that HP's engineering and design capabilities keep it competitive to other identically specced gaming laptops and even surpassing them in terms of thermal efficiency. The easy-to-use HP Omen firmware, a highly colour-accurate display, and a great keyboard trump the fact that its quad-speaker setup and trackpad are what my Gen Z neighbour would call "mid" by modern standards.
In the dynamic landscape of gaming laptops, where flashy designs once ruled the roost, subtlety, and elegance are emerging as the defining traits. The AMD-powered HP Omen 16, priced at Rs 1.31 lakh, is a testament to this shift, offering a sleek, understated look that veers away from the stereotypical gamer aesthetic. Beneath this polished exterior lies a powerhouse, equipped with the formidable AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, ensuring a gaming experience that's both immersive and smooth. Its versatility is further highlighted by an ample selection of ports, making connectivity a breeze, and a design that facilitates easy repairs. However, is everything about the Omen 16 is praiseworthy? Potential buyers might be slightly deterred by some lackluster additions to the laptop. As with any product, the Omen 16 presents a blend of the impressive and the imperfect, warranting a closer look for those in search of a gaming laptop that balances performance with aesthetics.
HP Omen 16 Review: Design, Keyboard, Trackpad And I/O
HP's redesigned Omen 16 showcases a deeper base and forward-positioned lid hinges, introducing a "trunk" at the rear, reminiscent of designs by Lenovo and MSI. This trunk, primarily for exhaust, centralizes ports like HDMI 2.1, 2.5Gbps RJ45 Ethernet, and 5Gbps USB-A 3.0. Sides feature expanded vents, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 3.5mm jack on the left, and another USB-A on the right. HP omitted the SD card reader in 2023's model, making a Thunderbolt dock a potential solution.
The laptop, with Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E (Intel or Realtek based on configuration), allows easy headset pairing. Its all-black matte finish enhances the RGB keyboard and adopts a brand badge over the previous Omen logo. While sturdy, some parts feel less rigid. The reimagined port trunk aids cable management.
Front-facing speakers ensure clarity, while a top-bezel webcam, upgraded from 720p to 1080p, caters to modern needs but might be underwhelming for professional streamers. The absence of an IR sensor for Windows Hello might irk some. The keyboard remains consistent with the prior model. While HP's flat, chiclet-style keycaps aren't my favorite, I admire the layout and font. Navigation keys are conveniently grouped, with shortcuts to the Omen and Calculator apps. My version has per-key RGB lighting, enhancing key lettering, adjustable via the Omen app. I effortlessly typed extensive content on this platform. The spacious spacebar, profound key travel, and solid actuation are commendable. The previous Omen 16's touchpad had a less satisfactory click, but this issue seems resolved. The touchpad, though slightly smaller, is accurate and gives a sturdy click. Although the laptop's primary focus is gaming, its keyboard and touchpad configuration also suit professional use.
Also read: HP Omen 16 Gaming Performance Review
HP Omen 16 Review: Display And Speakers
The HP Omen 16 I reviewed comes with an FHD 16:9 aspect ratio display with 165Hz maximum refresh rate support. In the previous generation, HP offered at least a QHD display in high-end Victus laptops priced at around Rs 1.15 lakh. So is this screen a downgrade? Well, not exactly. Even though this screen does not support QHD resolution it is highly colour accurate instead thanks to a Delta E score of just 1.5. You can easily use this screen for graphic designing and colour correction in videos and photos, provided you're creating content in the sRGB colour space.
Speaking of that, the screen sports 98% sRGB and 75% DCI P3 colour space coverage, which has become pretty standard across gaming laptops in general. The screen peaks at 303 nits of brightness which is slightly more than advertised at HP at 300 nits. The viewing angles of the screen are also good and the HP's use of an anti-glare coating on the screen is another really helpful addition.
The laptop houses front-facing dual speakers on its wedge base, angled to ensure clarity even when placed on a desk, protected by a perforated grille. An additional grille between the keyboard and screen seems more for thermal management than audio. The stereo speakers, while not matching the volume of the quad speakers on the Alienware x16 R1, still offer decent balance. However, the sound quality diminishes during gaming because of the prominent fan noise.
HP Omen 16 Review: Performance And Gaming
Powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS the HP Omen 16 flexes its muscles with high Performance Per Watt and a high TGP RTX 4060 GPU. I started the performance test with the Cinebench R23 multicore test and the HP Omen 16 scored 17681 with a throttle difference of just 1495. For comparison, the Lenovo Legion 5i had dropped the lowest performance during throttle tests, followed second only by the HP Omen 16 for a high-end processor.
In the PC Mark 10 extended test though, the HP Omen 16 bested the HP Victus 16 and the pricier Lenovo Legion 5i Pro with a combined score of 9494 points. However, the Gen 4 SSD on board the HP Omen 16 is slightly slower than the one found in the other two laptops. But I reckon the real-world difference will be negligible as I noticed no measurable difference in real-world gaming scenarios.
Speaking of gaming, the HP Omen 16 is neck to neck compared to the Acer Nitro 5 which also has the exact same configuration. The HP Omen 16 takes the lead from the Acer Nitro 5 in games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. But the Nitro 5 bests the HP Omen 16 in Civilization and Dirt 5. So it is a mix-match game where both these performers come within spitting distance of each other. But one clear advantage the HP Omen 16 has is in terms of thermal performance.
In the Acer Nitro 5, the fans spin at maximum speed even when set on auto and are noticeably louder than the ones on the HP Omen 16, despite, as we have seen, offering similar performance. But that's not to say that the fans on either of these laptops are not objectively loud. They are, just like fans in every other high-end gaming laptop. Additionally, the HP Omen does have a MUX switch allowing you the option to switch between hybrid and discreet display modes. And you do notice the performance difference when you switch between these two.
I also tested Bethesda’s latest Sci-Fi adventure Starfield on the HP Omen 16 and despite the game’s stupendously high hardware requirements, the laptop ran the game at 40-50FPS at medium settings. Keep in mind that it is a game that even the Xbox Series X is only able to run at a locked 30FPS. Moreover, Nvidia is yet to release a DLSS update for the Starfield and it will definitely improve the game’s performance a lot more.
Also read: Exclusive: HP Omen Transcend 16 Leaks Show Team Up with HyperX for Game-Changing Innovation
HP Omen 16 Review: Verdict
In the evolving realm of gaming laptops, where brash designs once dominated, refined elegance is now the benchmark. The HP Omen 16, priced at Rs 1.33 lakh, epitomizes this evolution with a sophisticated aesthetic that deviates from traditional gamer flair. Under this refined shell, the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU work in tandem to deliver a gaming experience that's seamless and engrossing. While its design modifications, including a rear "trunk" and centralized ports, elevate functionality, the laptop's high-quality display offers impressive color accuracy ideal for design work. However, its speakers, while balanced, can't outshine competitors' volume and are affected during intense gameplay due to fan noise. Performance metrics highlight its competitive edge, rivaling the Acer Nitro 5 closely, albeit with superior thermal performance. With an undeniable focus on balancing aesthetics and power, the HP Omen 16 presents itself as a compelling choice, with certain areas excelling and others requiring some reconsideration for those discerning in their gaming laptop selection.
