Aarogya Setu has now introduced a new feature that allows an app user to know of their Bluetooth contacts and enables them to assess their risk level for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aarogya Setu app users need to update the application and click on ‘See Recent Contacts’ to get this information. This update as Aarogya Setu app now uses Bluetooth proximity has been released for Android OS, while the update for iOS phones will be released soon.
Mind you! Aarogya Setu uses contact tracing to record details of all the people you may have come in contact with, as you go about your normal activities. If any one of them, at a later point in time, tests positive for COVID-19, you are immediately informed and proactive medical intervention is arranged for you.
However, the update issued by Aarogya Setu app will enable the user to assess the COVID-19 risk by seeing recent contacts. Some Bluetooth contacts can be for short durations during travel, some can be when the users have Masks on without any physical contact. Therefore, it is always important to take necessary precautions and monitor the Coronavirus symptoms one is witnessing.
Moreover, a recent tweet by Aarogya Setu Twitter handle has revealed that in case any app user’s status has been assessed as Moderate Risk or High Risk meaning the screen is Yellow or Orange, Aarogya Setu will also let them know date, time and approximate location as well as duration of such Bluetooth contact with someone who has been declared as the COVID-19 positive patient.
On clicking Aarogya Setu app, one will find out number of people with whom the app users have been in Bluetooth proximity and inform them eventually. To assess the coronavirus status, it will ask the app users’ permission to upload the data. After this, an app user will get information like, “We have captured 1 Aarogya Setu user’s contacts with you (through Bluetooth proximity since you installed the app or the last 30 days). Out of these the status of 1 is Low risk or Healthy.”
Aarogya Setu started with an idea of automatic contact tracing. Proximity logging within an app addresses a key limitation of manual contact tracing: it is dependent on a person’s memory and is therefore limited to the contacts that a person is acquainted with and remembers having met.
For COVID-19 contact tracing, there were two options to go with: Bluetooth or GPS. However, Bluetooth was chosen because it is able to classify close contacts with a significantly lower false-positive rate than GPS. Given that GPS accuracy decreases in indoor environments, entire shopping malls or skyscrapers would be within the margin of error of a single GPS point. The Aarogya Setu app makers have created an app which they claim can:
Can help us in tracing the nearby contacts through Bluetooth.
The previous speculations suggested that the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is working on the faster 100W charging technology. Now a new report has emerged on the web suggesting that Xiaomi is working on developing a 120W charger. According to the report the 120W charger has just received the 3C certification hence indicating that the device is ready to arrive in the market.
Last year the company introduced its 100W Super Charge Turbo fast-charging tech in the year 2019 that can charge a phone in just 17 minutes. But now according to a report by GizmoChina, the Xiaomi’s 120W charger has got the from the nation’s safety bureau called 3C (China Compulsory Certificate). The certification has revealed that the charger can achieve a voltage of 20 volts and a current of 6 amps. In addition to this, the company is also planning to bring the world’s first smartphone supporting 100W charging. The Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station last week revealed that the device is expected to launch soon.
According to the report, the 120W charger with model number MDY-12-ED got its certifications and has now been spotted today. It is suggested to be the same charger whose video was leaked last month on the web and is capable of operating at 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 11v 6A, 20V 4.8A and 20V 6A. Moreover, it is expected to come with charging pins on opposite sides of the USB port. While the power inputs revealed that the device is capable of charging multiple devices including laptops, and tablets other than just a smartphone.
Until now official information has been revealed by the company about its upcoming super-fast charger as well as the smartphone. But if it comes it can completely charge a 4000mAh battery in less than 15 minutes. However, it remains unclear that which upcoming Xiaomi smartphone will be equipped with the new fast charger or the company might ship the 120W charger separately just like Apple does. But we can expect the much-awaited Mi Mix 4 will be bundled with the powerful charger which is most likely to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Indian shores are flooded with a number of audio devices including true wireless earphones from many companies. The latest to join the bandwagon is Xiaomi who brought the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 to India, recently. These are from the premium range of audio products that the company offers. We spent some time with them to understand how well do they dance to our beats. Read on the rest of the review of Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 to know more.
In This Article
Design
We recently reviewed the Redmi Earbuds S, which came at an incredible price in the budget segment. However, some design spaces were left in those that have been captured well by the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2. Let’s start with those. You do not get a pill-shaped charging box here; the charging box is designed in a rectangular shape with curved edged. In which you get the twin earplugs that at first do seem inspired by Apple Airpods, but once you pop them out, they are very different and have an identity of their own.
These are in no way flimsy or cheap. They are in the premium category of wireless earplugs and it shows. The handle on both the earplugs make up for good usage. One can easily place them in the ear and the way they are built they will fit well in all ear types. They nicely sit in the ear cavity and you do not get any scars in your ears as they are built of soft glossy plastic. The charging case is also rock solid and much better than its younger brother or its competition. The lid is sturdy and you do not find the materials used to be sub-standard. The charging case has a dedicated button for Bluetooth connectivity. A LED light on it shows you the connection or charging status.
Coming back to the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 both handles are feather touch-sensitive. Which mean you can receive or end calls, play music and even enable voice assistants. These work feather flawlessly across smartphones, PCs and MacBooks. But you cannot control the volume from these touch buttons, for that you would need to pop out the cell phone and do it manually. However, the music auto pauses as soon as you unplug the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 from any of the ears, as both the earplugs have in-ear detection sensors.
Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Performance
Coming over to the fun part, its sound and performance. Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 come with a 14.2mm audio drivers in each earplug. These make up for some really good resonance. The high and lows are good, however, we missed the bass in these. That could have been punchier. Call quality is really good and there is hardly any distortion or lag here. The other side on the voice call can also hear you properly since it has 2 microphones on each earplug on top and bottom (in total 4).
These come with environmental noise cancellation, which is a must if you work or stay in a noisy environment. So, when talking ambient noise is cancelled automatically and the listener can hear you well. Battery life on the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 is also good. The company claims you can extract up to 4 hours on the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 in a single charge and combined with the charging case you can get 14 hours of battery life. Well, they are right, we got over 3 hours 45 minutes on a single charge and with the charging case, we got over 13 hours of battery life.
The Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 work on Bluetooth V5.0 so our suggestion is to use them with compatible devices as the audio quality becomes much better. Same goes for gaming when paired with a BT V5.0 device. Even though these are not made for gaming, we did enjoy sessions of Call of Duty mobile with them. Users can access voice assistants with the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 as well. We tried them with Google assistant and it understood us correctly 9 out of 10 times. That is quite good.
Verdict
Overall, the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 is a neat piece of machinery. It impressed us at various levels including its build, call quality and very good resonance. The bass definitely could have been better, but some would like it at that level. At Rs 3,999 these are class-leading wireless audio earplugs you can buy. White might get dirty at times, so our suggestion is to keep a cloth handy to quickly wipe off any smudges that accumulate so that they do not stick to them.
Ahead of the much-anticipated iPhone 12 launch that is slated to take place later this year, tech giant Apple has now started sending surveys to the iPhone users in order to enquire how they have been using the USB charger that comes along with the device. The clear reason behind this movies still unknown. However, news is rife that the Cupertino-based tech company is planning to exclude the USB charger and EarPods in the box while rolling out Apple iPhone 12 later this year.
According to a 9To5Mac report: In the survey, users were questioned on what they did with their previous USB charger after bringing home the new handset. Apple is sending across this survey to those who recently bought a new iPhone.
The report further revealed that Apple clarified that its survey is about the USB power adapter and not related to the Lightning cable. The USB charger is used for charging using a wall outlet. You can plug the charger into an iPhone with a separate charging cable.
A Twitter user Thorzinho @bedabb revealed that he had bought an iPhone 11 this month and received the survey data Apple and he was intrigued by this question, “What did you do with the USB Power Adapter that came in the box with the iPhone 7 Plus that you replaced?” The USB Power Adapter is used for charging from a wall outlet, and you connect the adapter to an iPhone with a separate charging cable. He, then, was asked to select all that apply:
Gave it to a family member or friend
Recycled it
Lost or misplaced it
No longer working or not working well
Still using it at home
Still using it outside of my home (e.g., work, school, other location)
Still have it but not using
Meanwhile, Apple has taken an historic decision for the Mac. The tech giant during the WWDC20 has announced that it will transition the Mac to its world-class custom silicon from using Intel processors to deliver industry-leading performance and powerful new technologies. Developers can now get started updating their apps to take advantage of the advanced capabilities of Apple silicon in the Mac. This transition will also establish a common architecture across all Apple products, making it far easier for developers to write and optimize their apps for the entire ecosystem.
In March this year the popular messenger app WhatsApp rolled out the Dark Mode feature on both Android as well as iOS platforms globally. Soon after the launch the company was spotted testing the dark mode on the WhatsApp web and desktop. Now the Facebook-owned messaging app has rolled out the Dark Mode to the desktop and the online users too.
WhatsApp has brought the Dark Mode to its webs and desktop platform too and with the introduction of this new feature, it will completely change the look of the interface. In addition to this the company is also rolling out Animated Stickers, QR code features to its platform.
The new browser version and the desktop app will now be getting to change the colour theme of the platform from bright to a darker mode. The Dark Mode will minimize eye fatigue when used in low lighting conditions. From now on when you log in to the browser or desktop version of the messaging app you will see the homepage, settings, toolbars and everything changed to the new colour dark colour theme. So if you are already using it on your Android and iOS platform and then you must also try it out on your WhatsApp Web. Just follow the step below and you are good to go.
How to enable Dark Mode on the WhatsApp web and desktop version:
First, open your web browser and enter whatsapp.com
Now log in to your WhatsApp account using the QR Code. This can be done by tapping on the three vertical dots on the top corner of your screen and now tap on the WhatsApp Web and scan the QR code being shown on your desktop.
Once you are logged in, now tap on the three-dot icon at the right corner and select Settings
Within the option choose Theme
Now you will be getting two options: dark and light themes. Select the ‘web dark’ and click OK to enable the theme on the platform.
New feature alert! We are rolling out Dark Mode on desktop, improvements to group video calls, Status in KaiOS – and coming in a few weeks, Animated Stickers and QR codes. pic.twitter.com/wflA9WO0wJ
Besides the Animated stickers and dark theme, WhatsApp has also rolled out QR code support to add WhatsApp contacts. Every WhatsApp user has a unique QR code with the release of this feature they can immediately add contacts on their device by scanning the QR code that will be available in the profile’s section. Apart from that, the users can now press and hold a participant’s video to view it in full screen. Also, the company is bringing a separate video call icon in group chats having eight or fewer members. In addition to this, the company is releasing support for ‘Status’ on its KaiOS version. The JioPhone and Nokia users will be able to put a status that will vanish after 24 hours.
Due to the ongoing pandemic crisis in India, the government recently ordered that all the schools and colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed as the coronavirus cases in the country are on a rise. In this case, CBSE has collaborated with social media giant Facebook to launch a certified curriculum on digital safety and online well-being and augmented reality for students and educators in the country. Both the social networking website and the government body have taken this initiative in order to develop the skill to safely browse the internet, make well-informed choices and think about their mental health.
CBSE stated, “To further their commitment towards digital inclusion and digital empowerment, CBSE and Facebook have partnered to launch curriculum and related training in Augmented Reality, Digital Safety & Online Well-Being and introduce Instagram Toolkit for Teens. This partnership is led by Facebook for Education, a global initiative by Facebook to build diverse learning communities and bring the world closer together.”
The Union Minister for Human Resources Development (HRD) Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal has announced that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) together with Facebook, has come forward to help the secondary students in India to develop skills on Digital Safety and Online Well-being and Augmented Reality(AR).
Ramesh Pokhriyal said in a statement, “I congratulate CBSE and Facebook on its partnership to introduce certified programs in Augmented Reality for teachers and Digital Safety and online-wellbeing for students. I encourage the teachers and students to apply for the programs commencing on July 6, 2020.”
Both the organisations have launched a comprehensive curriculum to prepare the students and educators for the upcoming and current emerging jobs covering the aspects of privacy, mental health and Instagram’s Guide for Building Healthy Digital Habits and is now available on the official website of CBSE. Besides this Facebook also aims at providing basic guidance to the students in creating new immersive skills via its Spark AR Studio software. The module will run in various stages. In the first stage, Facebook aims at providing training to 10,000 teachers who are then going to instruct 30,000 students in the second phase. It will be a three weeks training program that will be held in batches covering the aspects of Augmented Reality. For this, the company has partnered with the V.CO Digital Learning Platform based in Bengaluru.
The CBSE Chairman, Manoj Ahuja in its statement said Incorporating technology and digital safety into the school curriculum will ensure students are not only gaining knowledge to succeed in the digital economy but also learning and collaborating in a safe online environment,”
The AI curriculum is based on Intel’s outcome-oriented AI for the youth program and will be available for the students studying from VIII to X.
Showcasing solidarity with the #StopHateForProfit campaign, several organisations have already announced that they will pause all Facebook and Instagram advertising for the month of July. Now latest reports have revealed that Microsoft and PlayStation has also joined the bandwagon calling for Facebook to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to fan the flames of racism and hate.
According to a Bloomberg report, a person familiar with the matter requesting anonymity has revealed that Microsoft has temporarily halted global advertising spending on Facebook Inc. and Instagram citing the reason that its ads are placed next to inappropriate content.
The report further added that in 2019, Microsoft had pumped out around $116 million on advertising on Facebook becoming the Mark Zuckerberg-led company’s third-largest advertiser last year. In the month of May, Microsoft had started halting spending on its advertisement on Facebook and Instagram in the US only. However, now it has implemented this strategy across the globe, the report added.
Mind you! This boycott by Microsoft has come days after the tech giant had announced that all Mixer sites and apps will redirect users to Facebook Gaming. Transitioning the Mixer community is a key part of a broader effort that Xbox and Facebook Gaming are embarking on, bringing new experiences and opportunities to Facebook, where every month more than 700 million people play a game, watch a gaming video, or interact in a gaming Group.
Other than Microsoft, PlayStation has also joined the #StopHateForProfit campaign to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram for the time being. As per a statement issued by PlayStation, “In support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, we have globally suspended our Facebook and Instagram activity, including advertising and non-paid content, until the end of July. We stand for working (and playing) together for good.”
Meanwhile, Twitter has started labelling tweet for violating the Twitter Rules. It had also labelled Trump’s tweet for violating the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter had determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible. In the labelled tweet, Trump highlighted the protests and riots taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota after the death of George Floyd in police custody. Calling the protesters “thugs”, the US President tweeted, “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” When the hidden tweet was reposted later by the official White House Twitter account, Twitter had once again labelled the post.
Last month the Japanese electronics major announced the launch of its most anticipated gaming console for the year 2020. The company unveiled PlayStation 5 which is its latest iteration to its gaming console PS4. The company has launched two new variants of the gaming console PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. Without any further delay, PlayStation 5 has now been listed on Amazon and Flipkart in India. The listing displays both the variants of the console that are scheduled to arrive in India later this year.
PlayStation 5 teaser page is now live on India’s leading e-commerce website Amazon as well as Flipkart. According to the listing both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5, Digital Edition variants will be available in India. The company has not revealed a concrete date for the India launch but the teaser mentions Late 2020 means it is coming in late November. Both the e-retailers share the same information which also says that along with the gaming consoles four accessories will also be available for purchase in the country. Along with this Pulse 3D Wireless Headset, a Media Remote, a DualSense Charging Station, and an HD Camera are also coming to India.
Apart from that the teaser page also includes the DualSense Wireless Controller which was introduced a few months back by Sony. In addition to this, the listing also shows a bunch of games that are coming to the PlayStation 5 which includes Horizon Forbidden West, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Demon’s Souls, Gran Turismo Simulation Mode – GT 7, Sackboy, Returnal, Destruction All-Stars and Astro’s Playroom along with games from third-party publishers and developers.
PlayStation 5 includes two-toned console options, one a standard model with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive and a digital model without disc.
To boost the gaming experience there will be a set of new accessories that will also be available in India. A Pulse 3D wireless headset will include a 3D audio support and dual noise-canceling microphones, while the HD Camera equips 1080p lenses for gamers to broadcast themselves along with their epic gameplay moments. Moreover, a Media Remote with a built-in microphone to navigate movies and streaming services with ease and a DualSense Charging Station capable of charging two DualSense Wireless Controllers.
At the time of the launch, the company said, “The PS5 gameplay experience will be the same, so the choice is all yours. While there are some slight differences in the look of each model, for the overall design, we wanted to deliver a console that’s bold, stunning, and unlike any previous generation of PlayStation,”
In order to provide everyone a better gaming experience, PUBG MOBILE has now announced that it will be introducing Update 0.19.0 starting from July 7th. Under this PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0, the users can now access the newly-launched Livik map. This Nordic-style map measures 2km × 2km, with 52 players and 15 minute match times, making for a faster and more exciting experience. As per Tencent Games, “Livik map is still in its BETA stage, and we will continue to adjust and improve it for the best visual and gaming experience.”
According to this popular gaming official blog, “The server will not be taken offline for this PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0. This update requires approximately 1.84 GB of storage space on Android devices and 2.13 GB of storage space on iOS devices. Players on different versions are unable to invite one another, so please update as soon as possible.”
If a player access the Update 0.19.0 in between July 7th – July 13th, they’ll be getting access to:
2,888 BP
AG ×100
Nightmare Helmet (3D)
In an official blog post on PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0, it was revealed that when the event starts, Experimental Trial Weapon Crates containing a special weapon will appear on Livik. Special weapons look similar to normal weapons, but there are differences in the names, icons, etc. Finishes can be used normally on both types. Moreover, Experimental Trial Weapons have slightly better stats than normal weapons. You can view your firing and hit stats with your Experimental Trial Weapon after leaving combat.
Besides the new Livik map, PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0 users can spark the flame-themed gameplay which will be available on Erangel and Miramar maps in Classic Mode. Players have a chance to enter this mode after selecting these Erangel and Miramar maps.
Additionally, PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0 also states that the Ancient Secret themed mode is coming soon. It could be applied on Erangel and Miramar when activated. Players can choose whether to participate via settings on the Mode Selection screen.
Moreover, PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0 notified that a season warm-up event will be available for a limited time at the end of Season 13. After joining the event, players will battle in 4-player teams in Classic Mode (unranked) and can complete missions to earn a small amount of Season 14 ranking points that will be converted into Season 14 season rating points after the update of Season 14
After the PUBG MOBILE Update 0.19.0, Payload and RageGear Modes will only be available during the weekend, and Bluehole Mode will no longer be available.
It was also revealed that with the Update 0.19.0, the New Arena Gameplay – Team Gun Game will be available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starting July 31st. Here, the game makers stated that “The starting weapons are the same, but can be upgraded by defeating opponents. The winner is the first team to use the final weapon, the Pan, to defeat the opponents(or the team with the highest score when time runs out).”
Recently in India, 59 Chinese apps were banned including TikTok. Now Instagram is begun testing its new video-sharing social networking services on its platform as an alternative to TikTok known as Reels. The company is going to target more than 250 million user base of TikTok in India.
According to a report the Facebook acquired photos and video sharing app Instagram is testing TikTok’s replacement in India. In order to take the best advantages of the situation, the company is testing Reels. At the moment it is only available to a limited number of Instagram users in India. However, the company is aiming at the disappointed TikTok users in the country. It is much like the Chinese app but not a separate app instead the functionality to create short videos comes within Instagram only.
To recall it parent company Facebook launched Instagram Reels last year in 2019 but is limited to international markets only. The feature allows the users to record 15-second clips set to music on Instagram.
The concept is similar to TikTok to create entertaining and attractive video content from Instagram Stories. The feature was first rolled out to Brazil, Germany and France. The short video clips can be shared to Stories on the platform. The users can select music from the library within the app to borrow audio from another video, as well as record their own original soundtrack. To give users access to its music library the company has also collaborated with Saregama. It comes with a handy video countdown timer and the option to adjust your video’s speed just like TikTok. When rolled out in India the users can create and share it to their Instagram Stories or can be directly sent to a specific user and also add it to a dedicated Reels tab on the user’s profile.
In addition to this, the discovery section within the Instagram Explores will also include Top Reels performers. Most of the features are comparable to TikTok as a direct response as it has gained more popularity and has also become the most downloaded app in the First Quarter of 2020.
A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider that, “We’re planning to start testing an updated version of Reels in more countries. Reels is a fun, creative way for people to both express themselves and be entertained. We’re excited to bring this new version to more of our global community. No further plans to share on launch date or countries for now”
Indian apps like Chingari, Roposo, Khabri, Bolo Indya are gaining more popularity after the TikTok ban in India. Instagram already has millions of users in the country so the launch of Reels will become a huge competitor to these Indian apps.
In order to take on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Skype Reliance Jio recently launched its video-conferencing app JioMeet in India. The video-calling app is now available for downloads via both Android and iOS platforms in the country. While on the other hand to compete with JioMeet another Telecom company is working on bringing its own unified video conferencing tool in India. Yes, soon Bharti Airtel will also be offering its own video conferencing app for start-ups and enterprises.
According to a report by Economic Times, the telco will be Initially offering this service to start-ups and enterprises and gradually will be expanding it to their customers after seeing the response. A source close to Airtel told the publisher, “We are close to launching several enterprise-grade products including a unified video conferencing tool very shortly. The video conferencing product will be more differentiated from existing offerings like Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Hangout.”
There are already big players in the market such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Hangouts that are gained a lot of popularity during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator has decided to enter into the growing virtual conferencing market after its rival Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has launched its video conferencing service, JioMeet.
Airtel’s video conferencing tool will be made available across mobile as well as desktops and will use the latest AES 256 encryption and multiple layers of authentication.
In the meanwhile, Niti Aayog chief executive officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant via its Twitter account has been seen endorsing JioMeet. His tweet reads, I fully support and appreciate JioMeet. This app is quality as well as a primarily domestic endeavour that needs our support and recognition. The Fifteenth Finance Commission is exploring the possibilities of organising further meetings and talks through Geomit App.” He further added that “Tried JioMeet video-conferencing. It’s easy & simple! Better than Zoom. Meetings are encrypted & password protected. Unlimited high-definition calls. All data in India. Emerges as a major technological disruption from India. Will go places in these challenging times.”
JioMeet is a free video-conferencing application that can be used for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants with enterprise-grade host controls. In addition to this, the user is allowed to do unlimited meetings per day and each meeting can go uninterrupted up to 24 hours. All the meetings are password protected and the host can enable ‘Waiting Room’ to ensure no participant joins without permission. In addition to this if an individual is using JioMeet while driving, they can use ‘Safe Driving Mode’.
Amazon Quiz for July 6 has gone live. Daily the e-commerce platform brings a new quiz that gives a chance to its millions of users to win exciting prizes being offered by the company. The quiz contains 5 general questions to which you have to answer correctly. Today you can stand a chance to win Rs 15,000 Amazon Pay Balance.
Daily the e-commerce platform brings a fresh questionnaire to which the contestants have to answer correctly to enter into a lucky draw. The quiz can be played daily from 8 AM to 12 noon. The quiz contains a total of five questions, all the questions are based on general knowledge and current affairs. Only one person will be declared a winner. Amazon will announce the result of the quiz at the end of the month. Only app users are eligible to participate in the Quiz. If you don’t know the answers, every day we update all the Amazon Quiz questions with their correct answers on our website. Check out today’s answers for the Amazon Quiz to Rs 15,000 Amazon Pay Balance.
July 6 Amazon Quiz Answers
Question 1: In which state would you find the KINFRA Defence Park, the country’s first defense industrial park in the public sector?
The answer is- Kerala
Question 2: The Stegodon, whose fossil has recently been found 50km north of Saharanpur, is an extinct relative of which of these animals?
The answer is- Elephant
Question 3: A small scale African miner Saniniu Lazer, recently became a millionaire, after selling two rough ________ stones.
The answer is- Tanzanite
Question 4: Which weightlifter, recently cleared of her doping charges, is set to receive the Arjuna Award, that has been on hold since 2018?
The answer is- K. Sanjita Chanu
Question 5: Whose 39th studio album is ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’, released on June 19, 2020, through Columbia Records?
After getting delayed for months due to coronavirus lockdown the Chinese smartphone company Vivo last month announced the launch of its new smartphone in the country, Vivo V19. The device was earlier scheduled to launch in India on March 26 then was postponed for May 12. The device is mainly a photography-focused device offering a total of six cameras on board. It is the successor of Vivo V17 that arrived in the Indian market last year with dual pop up selfie camera.
Vivo is popular amongst the people living in India for offering devices at competitive pricing. According to a report in the first quarter of 2020, the company has grown by 40 percent and managed to be in the list of top 5 selling smartphone brands in the country. In India, the company launched the Vivo V19 in two variants of 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM with 256GB of onboard storage option with a price tag of Rs 27,990 and Rs 31,990 respectively.
So, if you are looking for a new smartphone focusing on photography then our today’s review of Vivo V19 will be helping you to know if it is worth buying or not.
In This Article
Design and Display
Vivo has a strategy of refreshing its devices every six months and every time it launches a new device it has something new to offer. Unlike its predecessor, the device comes with a total of six cameras on which we will talk in detail later on. First, let’s have a look at Vivo V19’s display and inbox contents. On opening the box, you will find a pair of earphones, a charger and a phone cover for protection other than the smartphone.
The device is light in weight. For people like us, we prefer a smaller screen as it makes handling the phone with one hand much easier, so while using Vivo V19 both our hands will be involved, one to hold the phone and other to reach the top part of the device. You get a dual punch-hole design display that houses dual selfie camera onboard placed at the top right corner of the screen.
The volume rocker and the power button are located on the right side of the device while the 3.5 mm audio jack, mic, USB Type-C port and the speaker grille is positioned down at the bottom-most part of the phone. You get a whole glass body on the front as well as on the back and both the sides have been layered with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection. On the back, you get a glossy finish with an L-shaped camera module housing a quad-camera along with an LED flash.
For this review, we got the Piano Black version, though the company also offers a Mystic Silver colour option for the Vivo V19. After reviewing so many devices we have come to know that darker shades attract more fingerprints than the usual lighter colour options, the same goes with V19. As we get a glass back panel the company ships a transparent back cover for protection to prevent it from bumps and scratches.
Instead of the rear and a side-mounted fingerprint panel the company has given an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is not as accurate and swift as the face unlock. We were better off with the pattern unlock as that works much better.
Vivo V19 features a 6.44-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED display offering 1,080×2,400 pixels of resolution and 20:9 aspect ratio. In addition to this, there is a low brightness anti-flicker technology in it to reduce eye strain. The display also supports HDR 10 along with DCI-P3 colour gamut and 800 nits peak brightness as well as Widevine L1 offering great video experience for Netflix and Prime video binge as well as for the gaming sessions. It offers good viewing angles as the display appears crisp and sharp even during bright daylight.
During our review, we also streamed a few shows and watched lots of videos on YouTube and that experience was also fine. The colours are accurate and the screen is also bright.
Performance and Camera
Before we get on to the performance part, we would like to tell you that Vivo V19 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 chipset paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB and 256GB of memory. We reviewed the 8GB of RAM version with an internal storage of 256GB. Using the phone is a hassle-free experience. Switching between multiple apps is fluid and performed well on most occasions. However, you don’t get the same blazing speed when compared to the more powerful Snapdragon 855 being offered in this segment.
The gaming experience on the phone is also pretty good. We did not come across any lag while playing PUBG or Call on Duty on the device, even on higher graphics settings. However, we did experience some heating up after playing games for long.
On the software front, the mobile phone runs on Funtouch OS 10 on top on Android 10. The device did come with some bloatware that includes pre-loaded apps such as Amazon, Flipkart, Helo and others. While the device keeps on spamming the phone with messages that can be disabled from the settings, also the pre-installed app can be uninstalled, which is a good thing.
One thing we need to point out, there is no app drawer on the Vivo V19, which is not a major low but we do like our home screens less cluttered. On swiping the screen right brings the Smart Launcher that offers shortcuts to apps, which have been used on the handset frequently. Whereas swiping down from the top of the screens brings quick actions as well as notifications. Here you can easily set the screen brightness.
Now here comes the important and the last part of the Vivo V19 review which is the camera performance. On the handset, you get a total of six cameras. Four on the rear and 2 on the front. The Vivo smartphone quad rear camera setup consists of a 48-megapixel primary camera with f/1.79 aperture. The camera system is further assisted by an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, a 2-megapixel depth sensor for portraits and a 2-megapixel macro lens with f/2.4. Vivo has adopted a good approach towards offering a higher camera set up in this price segment.
The rear cameras are good at capturing images in any good light conditions (indoors and outdoors). It takes detailed shots using the primary 48-megapixel primary sensor. The colours are also accurate and the exposure too is precise both in daylight as well as low light, thanks to the Night mode. But, the 8-megapixel wide-angle lens lacks details in some of the images. One could make out that the edges in the images are not sharp when clicked in wide-angle.
For stunning close-up shots, V19 comes with a dedicated macro lens. It didn’t fail to impress us, producing well detailed, sharp as well as accurate colours. In short, the images looked natural and the reds in the images are also faultless. Have a look at the image samples below.
But as usual, the added beautification to the portrait images is just not for us as we prefer more natural-looking images. Nonetheless, Vivo offers you an option to disable it before taking shots. Also, a separate option is given for enabling the bokeh effect while you take a picture. The same goes for the selfie camera set up, by default the beautification mode is enabled.
Talking about which, on the front, there is a dual hole-punch selfie camera on the Vivo V19 that includes a 32-megapixel main selfie camera with f/2.08 aperture and an ultrawide 8-megapixel lens with f/2.28 aperture. The camera set up also features modes such as super night selfie, art portrait mode and super macro mode. Again, the image quality of the wide-angle lens was not up to the mark as the crispness in the captured selfies was missing. Otherwise, they were flawless.
In terms of the battery, it boasts a 4,500mAh battery that offers a full day of usage. But if you are a heavy gamer and a love to stream videos and movies while checking out your social media accounts you need to put it to charge before going to sleep. For the average user like us, the battery lasted for more than a day. The company also ships a 33W fast charger which can quickly recharge this smartphone.
Verdict
In this price range rather than providing the more powerful Snapdragon 855 the company offers us Snapdragon 712 SoC, which is not the best in this segment. For this, the company should have kept the price low, else the latest mid-range Snapdragon 730G should have been kept. Nonetheless, the simple CPU also does a good job at day to day tasks and gaming. The primary camera sensors on the front and back do a good job, but we wanted more sharpness from the wide-angle lens.
The overall design of the Vivo V19 is much more attractive than its predecessor as the device retains an all-glass body, looks much sleeker and light in weight. If you want a good gaming smartphone in a budget, that can capture some great shots and will not die on you soon, this smartphone could be your partner.
With Chinese video-making-and-sharing app TikTok being banned in India, TikTokers have started looking for alternates like Roposo, Chingari and Mitron. In last few days, these Desi video creation and sharing apps have started gaining popularity is India.
The new alternative in place of TikTok is Chingari app. The app maker claims that Chingari enables its users to experience and create real and exciting videos. With Chingari app, you can stay entertained with short-video content from a local community. Smartphone users can tune into an endless stream of videos and live in the moment with trending content across the globe. Moreover, the users of Chingari app also get fitness tips or a quick recipe, sneak peek into the lives of your favourite celebrities, and witness upcoming creators. You can download the Chingari app via Google Play Store. So far more than 10,000,000 downloads have been registered.
Other than Chingari, the newly-launched made in India Roposo app, which is available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Odia and Assamese, is free to download. So far, more than 50,000,000 downloads of Roposo have been registered.
Roposo app enables short video creation and easy photo editing using video filters, GIF stickers and effects which help you create videos in slow-motion, time-lapse, portraits with natural light, studio light, contour light, stage and stage mono light. One can even add filters, get creative with your post, add trending stickers and share these videos on WhatsApp using perfect hashtags.
Apart from Roposo, Mitron app, which is a free Short Video and Social Platform, has been designed for people to showcase their innovative videos showcasing light humour. “Mitron provides an easy and seamless interface for users to create, edit and share their videos, and at the same time browse through a library of top videos across the globe,” as per the app details on Google Play Store. So far 500,000 download have been registered.
The details further revealed that the Mitron app makers claimed that there aim is to create a platform where people can come and entertain themselves with small videos posted by the users across the globe, and at the same time, they could share and create their own videos as well.
Mitron app, which is available for download on Google Play Store, doesn’t support devices running operating system less than Android 5.0 version is 7.9 MB in size. The details on Google Play Store further notified that the app is offered and developed by Mitron TV.
If you are wondering to use the Mitron app, well it’s quite simple to understand. Once you will download the app via Google Play Store, Mitron app will ask you to click on “Allow Permission” button placed at the bottom of the page to use the application perfectly. Then, a pop-up window will ask you to “Allow Mitron to access photos, media and files on your devices?” With the go ahead, you will be headed to page showcasing “Latest”, “Popular”, “Subscription”, “Categories”, “Favourites” and “Downloads” button placed at the bottom. However, the top left corner will help you login in to your account.
When on July 1 the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MoM) aka Mangalyaan was about 7,200 km from Mars and at 4,200 km from Phobos, Mars ColourCamera (MCC) on-board this orbiter has imaged Phobos that is the closest and biggest moon of Mars. The spatial resolution of the image is 210 m. It is a composite image generated from 6 MCC frames. Mangalyaan was sent to the Red Planet as a part of ISRO’S Mission Mars.
According to ISRO, “Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites. The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta. Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other craters (Shklovsky, Roche & Grildrig) are also seen in this image.”
Phobos was discovered by astronomer Asaph Hall on 18 August 1877, at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington DC. This moon has a size of 27 x 22 x 18 km in diameter and orbits Mars three times a day at an unbelievable speed of just 7 hours and 39 minutes. Sometimes, it’s so close to the Red Planet’s surface that it can’t even be seen. Scientists describe Phobos as ‘the best studied natural satellite in the solar system’.
The Mangalyaan is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by ISRO. It is India’s first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted-off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota Range SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC on 5 November 2013. The launch window was approximately 20 days long and started on 28 October 2013. The MOM probe spent about a month in Earth orbit, where it made a series of seven apogee-raising orbital manoeuvres before trans-Mars injection on 30 November 2013 (UTC). After a 298-day transit to Mars, it was put into Mars orbit on 24 September 2014.
Soon after a Korean news website had revealed that Samsung Electronics decided to discontinue development of the Galaxy M41, news is rife that a new certification that is doing rounds online stated that Samsung Galaxy M41 smartphone is alive and is likely be housed with a big-capacity 6,800mAh battery.
As per a report by Root MyGalaxy via GSMarena, a 3C certification by Korea Institute for Chemical Convergence Testing (KTR), which was issued of July 3, 2020, has showcased that this much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy M41 smartphone will derive its juice by a massive 6,800mAh battery. This is a much greater battery capacity than the predecessors of the Galaxy 41 handset. The model name of this battery, as per the 3C Certification by KTR, is EB-BM415ABY. Moreover, the certification has also revealed that the country of origin is China.
As far as price is concerned, Samsung Galaxy M40, which is the predecessor of the upcoming Galaxy M41 smartphone, is now available for Rs 15,999 on Amazon India. See this, it is likely that the price of upcoming handset could be somewhere under Rs 20,000 in India.
Apart from the 6,800mAh battery, the rumour mills have also hinted that Samsung Galaxy M41 will have a CSOT’s 6.67-inch flexible OLED panel with 1080×2340 resolution as well as screen ratio of 19.5:9. Mind you! Xiaomi Mi10 is already carrying CSOT’s 6.67-inch flexible OLED panel.
Meanwhile, Samsung has now announced new offers for its newly-launched Galaxy A31 in order to make it more affordable for the consumers. Samsung Galaxy A31 smartphone will now be available with instant cashback of Rs 1,000, bringing down the smartphone’s effective price to Rs 20,999.
According to Samsung, if consumers in India will purchase the Galaxy A31 smartphone using ICICI Bank credit card (EMI transactions), they will get an additional Rs 1000 cashback.
As far as the specifications are concerned, Samsung Galaxy A31 comes with a 6.4-inch Super-AMOLED Infinity U display and Alive Intelligence innovations, making the smartphone an awesome device for India’s young millennial and Gen Z consumers. Mind you! Alive Intelligence on the Galaxy A31 offers a host of intelligent and intuitive features that help you do a lot more in a lot less time, claims Samsung.
With an advanced Octa-core Processor and 6GB RAM, the Galaxy A31 offers fast processing and a very smooth performance. Download more with 128GB internal storage and play at your best with Game Booster, a feature that learns your usage patterns to optimize battery, temperature and memory.
On the camera front, Samsung Galaxy A31 is fitted with Go ultra-high resolution with a 48MP quad camera for crisp, clear photos, day and night. Besides this, there is a 123-degree 8MP ultra-wide camera captures more of the view. Moreover, the quad-camera set-up of Samsung Galaxy A31 smartphone also comprises of 5MP Macro camera for highly-refined close-ups and ensures that the subject always stands out with the 5MP Depth Camera’s multiple Live Focus effects.
As far as battery is concerned, Samsung Galaxy A31 smartphone is fitted with a 5000mAh battery with 15W Fast Charging that gives you the power to stream, share and game on.
After announcing that Neat Corporation’s Budget Cuts stealth game for PlayStation VR will launch on July 10, a Sony’s PlayStation blog has now revealed that the new launch date is September 25. Budget Cuts is an action-adventure stealth game full of sneaking, stabbing and robots that was built for virtual reality from the ground up.
According to Olle Axelsson, Game Designer at Neat Corporation, “So while a lot of the work we’ve put into the game so far has been in moving all the offices, factories, and mail-rooms of TransCorp over to PlayStation, we couldn’t resist building a whole new level in this wacky universe, designed specifically with PSVR in mind. We got a lot of inspiration and ideas from our NeatCorp discord community, and from folks on twitter, about what type of gameplay spaces they want to see more of in Budget Cuts – that’s how we ended up building Panopticon!”
With Panopticon, Axelsson added that “we wanted to put the players journey and the importance of choice at the core of the levels design. We do this by providing them with a clear and central goal that is easy to locate, but hard to access. We wanted to encourage the player to pave their own path forward, either through brute force and action or through stealth and sneaking their way around in order to reach the center of the level. Honing in on the idea that the player is the one who chooses between fast-paced stabbing or tactical sneaking through their traversal of the level was key to the theme of this level.”
In order to ensure that Panopticon had a goal that was easy to see, the Budget Cuts’ creators decided on a radial layout of the level. This design approach lent itself very nicely to the circular shape you see on the level. This has the added effect of both challenging the player’s navigational skills – one might just find themselves going “in circles” if they don’t pay attention. This layout also helps make the center of the level visible from several points, which supports the player in making informed decisions on how to traverse towards their goal.
We will bring in more updates once Budget Cuts releases for PlayStation on September 25.
Amazon Quiz is getting more popular these days as more people have started participating in the quiz in the hope to win free gadgets as well as Amazon Pay Balance. The e-commerce platform brings Amazon Quiz on its mobile platform every day. The quiz can be played every day from 8 AM which runs till 12 noon. Today you can stand a chance to win Samsung Galaxy M30.
The Amazon Quiz has gone live on its platform. Every day it brings a new questionnaire to which the participants have to answer them correctly. It consists of a total of five questions to which you have to answer correctly to enter the lucky draw. All the questions are based on general knowledge and current affairs. Amazon will announce the result of the quiz at the end of the month. Only app users are eligible to participate in the Quiz. To help our readers to clear the Amazon Quiz successfully, every day we update all the Amazon Quiz questions with their correct answers on our website to let you win Samsung Galaxy M30. You can increase your chances of winning prizes by daily participating from 8 AM to 12 noon. We have already updated all the answers of today’s quiz below.
July 5 Amazon Quiz Answers:
Question 1: Which country’s parliament on 27th June 2020, picked veteran opposition leader Micheál Martin as their Prime Minister?
The answer is- Ireland
Question 2: Which of these clubs recently sealed the League title for the 2019-20 season, it’s first since the Premier League’s inception in 1992?
The answer is- Liverpool
Question 3: Parvez Jamasji, a military veteran who recently passed away, was awarded ________ for gallantry during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.
The answer is- Vir Chakra
Question 4: According to the USCIS in April 2020, close to 68% of US H1B Visa registrations for FY21 were from which country?
The answer is- India
Question 5: The guitar played by which musician during his 1993 MTV Unplugged performance was recently auctioned off at a record price of $6 Million?
Amidst the rising tension between India and China, the Ministry of Information Technology has decided to block 59 apps in view of information available that these applications are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. Here are great alternatives to the banned Chinese apps. Check them out:
Google Drive is alternate for WPS Office
If you have been using WPS Office developed by Zhuhai-based Chinese software developer Kingsoft, you can now use Google Drive as it is easy and secure access to all of your content. It integrates seamlessly with Docs, Sheets, and Slides, cloud-native apps that enable your team to collaborate effectively in real time. Create and share content with your team on Day 1, with no need to migrate from existing tools.
Moreover, Google’s powerful search capabilities are embedded in Drive and offer unmatched speed, performance, and reliability. And features like Priority use AI to predict what you’re looking for and surface the most relevant content—helping your team find files up to 50 percent faster.
Are you thinking which app should be used in place of Cam Scanner? Worry not as Adobe Scan is there for your rescue. The free document scanning app from Adobe turns your device into a powerful portable PDF scanner that recognizes text automatically (OCR). One can use this mobile document scanner to turn anything — receipts, notes, documents, photos, business cards, whiteboards — into an Adobe PDF with content you can reuse from each PDF and photo scan.
After the much controversy revolving around the TikTok app, this application is finally banned in India. The new alternative in place of TikTok is Chingari app. The app maker claims that Android-enabled Chingari enables its users to experience and create real and exciting videos.
With Chingari app, you can stay entertained with short-video content from a local community. Tune into an endless stream of videos and live in the moment with trending content across the globe. Moreover, the users of Chingari app also get fitness tips or a quick recipe, sneak peek into the lives of your favourite celebrities, and witness upcoming creators.
The alternate for QQ Music is YouTube Music. This is a music streaming service developed by YouTube. It provides a tailored interface for the service oriented towards music streaming, allowing users to browse through songs and music videos on YouTube based on genres, playlists and recommendations.
Get one free month of Music Premium to listen ad-free, offline, and with your screen locked, then pay just $9.99 a month. Existing YouTube Red or Google Play Music members and users of either service who have already received a 30 day trial are not eligible. Monthly charges auto-renew for Music Premium membership outside of trial periods.
Now use JioBrowser in place of UC Browser, a web browser developed by Chinese mobile internet company UCWeb that is a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group. JioBrowser is one of the first Indian browsers that is developed keeping the Indian users in mind. This mobile browser is designed to provide a fast and secure Internet surfing experience along with some of the most engaging News and Entertainment content available today. JioBrowser supports eight Indian languages along with English, so now you can watch your favourite videos in your preferred language.
AZ Screen Recorder is the alternate for DU Recorder
Now use AZ Screen Recorder in place of DU Recorder, which is a creation of Beijing Xiaoxiong Bowang Technology Co. Ltd. AZ Screen Recorder is a stable, high-quality screen recorder for Android that helps you record smooth and clear screen videos. With a ton of features like screen capture, screen video recorder, video editor, live stream screen, AZ Screen Recorder app provides an easy way to record screen videos such as video tutorials, video calls, game videos, live shows and videos that cannot be downloaded.
Google Translate is the alternate for Baidu Translate
Google Translate can be used in place of banned Baidu Translate app by China. This translate app by tech giant Google is like having a personal interpreter in your pocket. It supports over 100 languages across the globe. One can now use the Google Translate Android app to transcribe foreign language speech as the tech major has rolled out support for following eight languages: English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.
Now in place of QQ NewsFeed, Google News is a smart news app that organizes what is happening in the world to help you learn more about the stories that matter to you.
One can go deeper on every story with the “Full Coverage” feature provides a complete picture of how a story is reported from a variety of sources. With just a tap you’ll see top headlines from different sources, videos, local news reports, FAQs, news analysis, social commentary, and a timeline of events for stories that developed over time.
Most of us must have used VivaVideo to create a video collage on some or the other occasion. With VivaVideo now being banned in India, Photo Video Maker is there to help you out. Photo video maker is new one of the best and most powerful applications for creating videos, creating movies and creating slide show movies from your photos with music. Using this amazing photo video maker video creation application from photos and music, is very easy to create videos, edit videos from your own photo gallery.
JioMeet is made in India free video-conferencing application that can be used in place of Mi Video Calling app for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants with enterprise-grade host controls.
The feature highlights of JioMeet is that it one can easily sign up with either Mobile Number or Email ID. According to Reliance Jio, the JioMeet video conferencing supports HD video and audio quality. Those who do not wish to join video can enjoy audio conferencing too. In order to use JioMeet, one can create instant meeting and start inviting friends. The users of this video-conferencing by Reliance Jio can also schedule a meeting in advance and share meeting details with invitees.
Interestingly, a JioMeet user can get access to unlimited meeting per day and each meeting can go uninterrupted up to 24 hours. Moreover, each JioMeet meeting is password protected and host can enable ‘Waiting Room’ to ensure no participant joins without permission. If an individual is using JioMeet whil driving, they can use ‘Safe Driving Mode’.
Moreover, JioMeet offers multi-platform support as it can be used on Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, SIP/H.323 systems along with multi-device login support up to 5 devices. A user can seamlessly switch from one device to other while on call.
Recently PM Narendra Modi led Government banned 59 Chinese apps in India over “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order” concerns. Following this, the Prime Minister has announced ‘’Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge ” in the country asking the IT workers to participate in order to create Made in India Apps.
To announce the launch of its innovation challenge in the country Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took to Twitter and other social media accounts to challenge the tech workforce as well as start-ups to take part in the contest to develop Made in India Apps. Ministry of Electronics together with Information Technology and Atal Innovation Mission – Niti Aayog launches Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge.
Today there is immense enthusiasm among the tech & start-up community to create world class Made in India Apps. To facilitate their ideas and products @GoI_MeitY and @AIMtoInnovate are launching the Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. https://t.co/h0xqjEwPko
This innovative task comes with various cash awards and incentives of featuring Apps on Leaderboards seeks to create an ecosystem where Indian entrepreneurs and Startups are incentivised to ideate, incubate, build, nurture and sustain Tech solutions that can serve not only citizens within India but also the world. This initiative is aimed at developing Make in India for India and the World which means to create world-class applications in the country.
This challenge is for you if you have such a working product or if you feel you have the vision and expertise to create such products. I urge all my friends in the tech community to participate.
PM Narendra Modi LinkedIn post reads, “Nowadays, we are seeing huge interest and enthusiasm among the start-up and tech ecosystem to innovate, develop and promote homegrown apps. Today, when the entire nation is working towards creating an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, it is a good opportunity to give direction to their efforts, momentum to their hard-work and mentorship to their talent to evolve Apps which can satisfy our market as well as compete with the world.”
The AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge is being launched in the following 8 broad categories and each category includes subcategories within them:
Office Productivity & Work from Home
Social Networking
E-Learning
Entertainment
Health & Wellness
Business including Agritech and Fintech
News
Games
The government aims to develop a mobile-based live streaming platform for hosting webinars, lectures, etc, messaging and video calling applications, microblogging applications, news applications, online gaming platforms, photo-editing application and others.
The PM also said, “Can we think of making traditional Indian games more popular via Apps? Can we develop Apps with targeted and smart access to the right age group for learning, gaming, etc? Can we develop gaming apps for people in rehabilitation or getting counselling to help them in their journey? There are many such questions and technology alone can give answers in a creative manner,”
Snap Inc. has put up its Spectacles 3 and Spectacles 2 on sale in India. To recall the third and the second generation of the spectacles were launched in the year 2019 and 2018 respectively. These are basically augmented reality sunglasses that are sleek and feature an HD camera that helps in creating depth perception. Moreover, the AR glasses allow them to post photos as well as videos on the company’s very popular Snapchat and others.
Pricing and availability
Both Spectacles 3 and Spectacles 2 are now available for purchase via Flipkart in India Spectacles 3 price in India has been set at Rs 29,999 and comes in two colour options Carbon and Mineral. Whereas Spectacles 2 has been priced at Rs 14,999 and is available in three colour models of Onyx Eclipse, Ruby Sunset, and Sapphire Midnight. Both the glasses are bundled with charging cases, charging cables, and 3D viewers. The offline availability of the AR glasses has not been revealed by the company.
Specifications
Spectacles 3 comes with dual HD cameras on each side and both are capable of capturing photos as well as 3D videos. One can also transfer the captured images and videos on their device or can be seen on the Snapchat app by tilting the phone for depth perception. Moreover, the camera laden spectacles also allow you to use the 3D viewer to see the captured photos and videos in 3D similar to Google Cardboard. The AR glasses can capture pictures in 1,642×1,642 resolution and it offers 1,216×1,216 resolution videos which can also be seen in portrait or landscape mode in the app only. The glasses also feature new 3D effects to benefit from 3D pictures and videos captured by the Spectacles in Snapchat. To do this the user needs to transfer all the recorded videos and photos manually either via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, as it does not offer automatic transferring of data.
In addition to this, there is 4GB of internal storage, therefore, allowing you to 100 videos as well as 1,200 photos. Also, it takes 75 minutes to completely charge. On a full charge, the user can record up to 70 videos and more than 200 photos.
While on the other hand Spectacles 2 is provided with a single camera and allows you to capture images in a resolution of 1642 x 1,642 pixels and 1216 x 1,216 pixels resolution videos. It comes with an off button on the left. The device can only capture 2D photos and videos and you get 4GB on inbuilt storage hence allowing you to store 40 short videos. The second generation of Spectacles comes supported with Bluetooth 4.9, Wifi 802.11ac and can also protect your eyes from UVA and UVB sunlight.
Ahead of the official launch of the much-awaited smartphone, Lenovo has finally started to tease the features of its first gaming smartphone likely to be known as “Legion Gaming Phone”. The Beijing-headquartered company has showcased the first teaser stating that this upcoming device will come with dual X-axis linear motor. Earlier, it was rumoured that Lenovo will launch this mobile in July. However, the company hasn’t yet announced any official launch date yet.
According to Sparrow News, “Lenovo’s executive Chen Jin also complained about this feature of the new phone in a live broadcast, saying that the Lenovo Legion gaming phone will be Built with two X-axis linear motors, which are not only more vibrating and responsive but also in the process of gaming It brings a fuller vibration and greatly improves the gaming experience.”
Besides this, Legion Gaming Phone also released a prank unpacking video to showcase Packaging style. However, there was a Lenovo Z6 Pro inside the box other than this upcoming gaming phone. Rumour mills have revealed a that Lenovo Legion Gaming Phone is likely to come with 90Hz refresh rate along with 90W fast charging. In addition, the smartphone will also sport temperature control sensors along with two USB-C ports.
Another report by GSMArena has revealed, Lenovo Legion Gaming Phone is equipped with a landscape-dominant design with center-placed dual cameras along with a pop-up selfie module. Running on Snapdragon 865+ processor, this handset will carry an in-built active cooling.
According to a report by XDA Developers, Pricebaba shared some images claiming to be Lenovo Legion gaming devices. While these images were taken from the Chinese Patent Office, it is quite unsure that the images shared do justice to the phone’s actual design. The screenshots were taken from a promotional video showcasing the actual design of Lenovo’s upcoming gaming device. The two screenshots confirmed that the device will support ultra-fast 90W wired charging.
Furthermore, Lenovo Legion Gaming Phone seems to feature a dual rear camera set up paced at the centre of the back panel. On the other hand, the Legion logo appears on the rear. Beside this, the company also revealed that the smartphone is confirmed to get a 144Hz display.
OnePlus released its first teaser of OnePlus Nord and we managed to get a glimpse of the device. The smartphone has been in the news for a very long time as it is going to be the company’s most affordable offering to its fans. For quite a few weeks the company has been teasing the details of its affordable smartphone. Earlier it was expected that the forthcoming mobile phone will be called OnePlus Z or OnePlus 8 Lite but keeping all the rumours aside the company recently also revealed the official name which is Nord. And now the official teaser of the smartphone is also out now giving us the first glimpse of the phone.
After sharing the official name and the expected pricing the company has rolled out the first teaser of upcoming OnePlus Nord via YouTube channel across all its social media accounts. The company has shared a 1.25 minutes teaser titled Dear Past. The shared promo of the device just gives a glimpse of the device of how the phone actually looks like. The video has revealed that the phone will be featuring a vertically placed triple rear camera setup located on the top left corner of the back panel which is different from its previous designs.
Moreover, it is also now confirmed that the upcoming device will be sporting a dual front camera set up at the cornet top left of the screen where a model is shown making a video call. whereas the company’s logo can be figured out easily on the bottom part phone. The alert slider and the power button can be seen on the right side, as usual, the handset dons a silver colour finish on the rear panel.
The front camera is clearly visible in the OnePlus Nord official teaser but in the case of the rear one, we are still confused as the rear is not much visible so we can only make a guess that there will be a triple rear camera however the previous report suggests a quad-camera module on the back panel. However, according to Android Authority, the VP of OnePlus France, Akis Evangelidis has revealed that “A lot of the early OnePlus fans are die-hard tech enthusiasts… how would they react to a non-800-series chipset? We had a couple of discussions on [the choice of processor], but now that we started to tease the new product launch, we’ve been looking at the data and it’s been very very good so far.”
Rumours also suggest that the OnePlus Nord is going to be a rebranded variant from its sister company’s Oppo Reno 4. It is expected to come with 5G support and the company has also confirmed the device will be powered by a mid-ranger Snapdragon 765G SoC. Based on rumours there will be either a 48 megapixel or a 64-megapixel primary sensor. While on the front it is most likely to have a 32-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors on board. However, we only have very limited information regarding the Nord but we are eagerly waiting for the official details out to be soon.
With video-conferencing apps like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Skype gaining popularity during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, now Reliance Jio platform has also joined this bandwagon of video-calling apps by launching JioMeet. It can be downloaded via App Store or Google Play. So far, more than 100,000 users have downloaded JioMeet through Google Play.
JioMeet is made in India free video-conferencing application that can be used for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants with enterprise-grade host controls.
The feature highlights of JioMeet is that it one can easily sign up with either Mobile Number or Email ID. According to Reliance Jio, the JioMeet video conferencing supports HD video and audio quality. Those who do not wish to join video can enjoy audio conferencing too. In order to use JioMeet, one can create instant meeting and start inviting friends. The users of this video-conferencing by Reliance Jio can also schedule a meeting in advance and share meeting details with invitees.
Interestingly, a JioMeet user can get access to unlimited meeting per day and each meeting can go uninterrupted up to 24 hours. Moreover, each JioMeet meeting is password protected and host can enable ‘Waiting Room’ to ensure no participant joins without permission. If an individual is using JioMeet whil driving, they can use ‘Safe Driving Mode’.
Moreover, JioMeet offers multi-platform support as it can be used on Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, SIP/H.323 systems along with multi-device login support up to 5 devices. A user can seamlessly switch from one device to other while on call.
In order to make a group video call on JioMeet, a user simply needs to tap on icon and select multiple contacts you want to make a group video call to. Other than this, one can tap on icon & select one of the contacts you want to video call and once the contact accepts the call, tap Add participants:
Search for and select another contact you want to add to the call.
Tap Invite
In order to have a group call on JioMeet, Reliance Jio revealed that “ensure that you and your contacts have a strong Internet connection when placing or receiving group video calls. A poor or improperly configured connection might result in poor video and audio quality. If you’re connected to Wi-Fi, your video call quality is dependent on your wireless network signal and network data speed.”
PUBG Mobile is in the news again but this time for wrong reasons. Due to Coronavirus lockdown in the country, PUBG Mobile has seen skyrocketing growth in its users as well as earnings as people are taking the support of mobile games to kill their boredom. However, as the company now and then is releasing new events and update to improve the gaming experience so is the addiction of the game has reached to an extreme level where a teenager has nearly used up Rs 16 lakhs from his parent’s bank accounts for making in-app purchases on PUBG Mobile, therefore, spending his father’s hard-earned money on a petty game.
The extremely sad incident has taken over in Khagar, Punjab where a 17-year-old boy has spent Rs 16 lakh in his parents’ bank accounts which they have saved for the teenager father’s medical expenses. From his father’s life’s savings, he has made in-app purchases such as passes for tournaments, and virtual ammunition in a period of one month. According to a report by The Tribune, the boy fooled his parents by saying that he is using the mobile phone for online studies. In its place, he used to play PUBG Mobile on his father’s phone. For later use, his parents have already saved bank account and card details on the same device for making online transactions. The teen-ager was as well aware that his father’s bank account details and card details are saved on the phone and the same smartphone is also linked to a bank account that he used unreasonably over a period of months for buying in-app items.
As per the youngster’s father, a whopping sum of money was spent to make transactions on PUBG Mobile. The guy used to delete all the messages received from the bank to the phone after making purchases. This is why they were totally unknown about how and when the money was excessively being spent on PUBG Mobile. They got to know about the debits when they went to the Bank for reviewing statements.
According to the report, his father is a government employee who has a medical health history. The father also revealed that his life’s savings were kept for medical expenses and the teenager has exhausted his mother’s Provident Fund (PF) amount and some from his own account. “I had saved the money for my medical needs and my son’s future. During the lockdown, I was staying at the place of my posting, while my son was staying with my wife here. He used her mobile phone to make all transactions and would delete the message regarding the amount debited from the account,” said his father.
He further added “We never knew that he was using our accounts for playing a game. Even the police didn’t help us as my son had deliberately spent it,”. According to his father their son has spent Rs 2 lakh of her mother’s PF amount which she transferred to his personal bank account recently which is basically a non-salaried savings account. Also, he very cleverly shuffled the amount from one account to another to avoid being caught by his parents. After this incident came into the light his father is making him work at a scooter repair shop so that he realizes how tough it is to earn money.
