According to a recent publication by the World Intellectual Property Office or WIPO, Xiaomi has received a patent on two new upcoming Xiaomi smartphones. Thanks to the team at LetsGoDigital, we can see mock renders of the patented devices. The patent outlines two devices, both dual-sided smartphones. The screens on the device wrap-around the phone in different directions. The new design for the first smartphone shows a phone similar to the Mi Mix Alpha Concept phone with the screen wrapping around one vertical edge.
The second device’s display wraps over the top horizontal edge of the device. The back looks to house a hole-punch dual-camera setup. Both smartphones do not have front cameras in the renders, this may be because the rear cameras double as front cameras as the device is mostly composed of its screen. The patent-made designs do not list out possible buttons and ports the phones may have. These designs are well cast to catch the attention of smartphone enthusiasts. The designs look more practical than the Mi Mix Alpha. It will be an interesting watch to see what Xiaomi will do next to bring changes to the smartphone experience and if these phones will make the cut, enter production and be launched into the general market.
Xiaomi was most recently in the news after they launched the Mi share feature to users running on MIUI 11. This P2P technology will enable Bluetooth based sharing of files from Xiaomi to Vivo and Oppo devices and vice-versa. The P2P transmission will occur without an internet connection. Currently, Xiaomi devices running Android 9 Pie or higher versions can avail this feature listed as Mi Share enabling seamless data transfer between smartphones. Similarly, Oppo users running Android 10-based ColorOS 7 and above ie Oppo’s Reno 2, Reno 10X Zoom and Oppo F11 Pro will be able to use the Oppo share feature. The technology enables data transfer directly through Wi-Fi direct between the phones connected by Bluetooth. Users can enable data transfer through a single tap.
Erangel 2.0 is a map all PUBG enthusiasts are looking forward to. Ever since we heard that the map was being developed, PUBG addicts are waiting to run in the revamped version of the original map. Last year, in Berlin, during the PMCO 2019 Spring global finals, TS Jang, the executive producer of PUBG Corporation displayed a quick video that took us into the new map.
Gamers can now rejoice, a new teaser is circulating on YouTube giving an early look to gamers on what they can expect in the new map. The teaser video is apparently based on the new Erangel 2.0 with improved game dynamics. All thanks to the new video posted by YouTuber and PUBG gamer, Wynnsanity we get our first look at the map that everyone has been waiting for. The new map has all the locations of the original map and is now divided by a river with many bridges across it. Erangel does not resemble an island anymore and now looks like a continuous landmass as the map is expanding, details of the map can only be speculated on now, and confirmed after the map is released by the game corporation.
The teaser video shows an intense brawl on a new map, which makes us believe that the game will have special factions created in a future update, with each faction giving users unique advantages. The video begins with a before and after view of Erangel and is decorated by flags that we believe represent the different factions that are available. The video then shows players near seemingly special crates where the uniform of the players has a glowing logo which might represent the faction the player belongs to. The next scene is where a player threw a helmet to his teammate, meaning the mobile version player simulations will have the ability to throw items soon.
The next part of the video shows a gunfight where a player injects himself with what seems to be a booster and runs faster. A teammate then throws a shield to cover the first player followed by a healing dart from a third player to revive the first player. The video ends with both players preparing to fight. It is surprising to see that PUBG Mobile is adding new features while the current versions have unfixed bug issues. It is not clear when the new updates will happen and if they will carry bug fixes to the current bugs in the mobile version of the game.
A multitude of rumours and false alarms later, Mercedes Benz India limited, reputed to be the oldest luxury car manufacturer of the country has released their electric vehicle luxury line with the EQ brand. The company now joins MG motors and Hyundai in the list of car manufacturers who offer premium electric vehicles in India. Post debut of the EQ line, Mercedes Benz will soon bring the EQC SUV to India, expected to be around April of 2020. The all-electric SUV is currently available abroad and it is expected that the electric variant of all models will be available by the beginning of 2022.
India’s developing market is all set to play a key role in the sales of the company. The EQC is currently available abroad and it is expected that the company will increase their Electric vehicle lineup with electric models of the current vehicles like the GLA-Class (EQA), B-Class (EQB), E-Class (EQE), GLB-Class (EQB) and S-Class (EQS). It is also expected that the EQC SUV will come with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive layout with two electric motors, with one on the front and one on the rear axle. The Mercedes EQC will be powered by an 80kWh lithium battery and can provide a driving range of 417km. the two motors together will offer a maximum power of 402PS with peak torque of 760m. The car’s maximum speed will be 180kmph and the car will be able to go from 0 to 100 kmph in 5 seconds. The car’s battery can be charged in under an hour through a DC fast charger.
The company has also informed the world that they plan to be carbon-neutral by 2030. When enquired about their expansion plans for 2020, the company informed that they plan to install 4000 solar panels to meet energy requirements at their Chakan facility. The company also plans to release a new model every month, with a minimum of 10 cars headed towards the Indian market. Mercedes Benz India is currently the first luxury car lineup in the country whose entire lineup is compliant with BSVI emission regulations. The company next plans to bring new-gen GLE-Class to the Indian market and will be releasing the newer editions of the GLE Coupe, the GLS and AMG GT in 2020.
PlayStation recently confirmed in a statement, that the company will be a no-show at the E3 (one of the world’s biggest shows for games). The concerning matter, however, is that this will be PlayStation’s second year of absence at E3 following their lack of appearance at the 2019 show. Sony has given out a statement that they have decided to not participate in the 2020 edition of the E33 because of a lack of harmony regarding the vision of E3 2020, where Sony feels that the E3 2020 will not be the right place to execute Sony’s plans for PlayStation in 2020. The spokesperson also said that Sony’s strategy will be to focus more on their fans and are currently planning global consumer events.
Sony’s absence for the second year in a row will be noted by the world, with the company planning to release the latest addition to the PlayStation series, the console for the PlayStation 5 by the end of 2020. E3 is generally a hub for gaming companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, who strategically unveil and release upcoming devices at the global event.
However, Sony recently quenched fan’s thirst for information by unveiling the brand new PlayStation 5 logo at CES recently. The PlayStation 5 is rumoured to launch before the end of 2020, however other details regarding the looks and the specifications of the console, the games it will support and the cost is all murky and will remain so till Sony decides to launch the new product.
Sony’s absence from the E3 however, does not mean the world will not see any additions to the upcoming gaming world. Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox confirmed through a tweet that Microsoft will be in attendance. The Xbox series X is expected to launch before the end of 2020 just like the PlayStation 5.
Other gaming companies like Square Enix and Ubisoft are expected to make an appearance at the trade show for the gaming industry which is scheduled for June 9 to June 11. These companies may release new PlayStation 4 and 5 titles at the event.
Meanwhile, ESA released a statement and promised gamers that the E3 2020 will be an exciting experience. The show will display new gaming experiences, partners, exhibitor spaces, activations and programming that will excite true gaming enthusiasts in new and veteran attendees.
The Samsung Galaxy S20+ is rumoured to be releasing sometime in February and if new industry speculations are to be believed, the 5G compatible phone has passed through Geekbench, giving us a platform to know the key specifications before the release of the smartphone.
It is speculated that the Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G has the model number SM-G986U and will most likely run Android 10 with layered One UI 2.0. The smartphone is predicted to have a RAM of 12GB by industry experts. The motherboard of the device is listed as “Kona” which means the Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G may be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor. Other rumours speculate that the S20 series might be powered by the Exynos 990 or the Snapdragon 865. We will only know the actual details after the official launch and release.
Reports suggest that the Galaxy S20+ 5G scored a total of 923 and 3,267 points in Geekbench’s tests of single and multi-core tests, but this does not enable us to confirm much of the predicted specifications of the device.
It is also predicted that the non-5G version of the Galaxy S20+ will have a 6.7-inch AMOLED display and shall have a quad-camera setup. The setup is said to have a primary sensor of 64-megapixel, two 12-megapixel sensors and a proximity sensor in a time-of-flight setup camera. The front camera is predicted to be of 10-megapixels.
Over that, the Vanilla variant of the Samsung Galaxy S20 will not have a time-of-flight camera and shall come with a 6.2-inch display with a 10-megapixel front camera and a battery with capacity of 4,000 mAh. Meanwhile, the S20 Ultra is said to have a primary sensor of 108-megapixel with the ability to zoom 100x, with a 48-megapixel telephoto lens, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a time-of-flight camera set up completing the quad-camera setup.
The 5G variant of the S20 is said to have RAM of 12GB and 15GB while offering internal storage options of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. The phone is also rumoured to increase internal storage through a microSD card slot, increasing the storage of the device up till 1TB. This smartphone is also supposed to have a 5,000 mAh battery that supports 45W fast charging, enabling the phone to full charge in less than 74 minutes.
Republic Day is approaching and everyone is gearing up for it. Flipkart has announced the Flipkart Republic Day sale of 2020 from January 19 to January 22, the same dates as Amazon’s Great Indian sale. Flipkart’s 4-day sale will see discounts on popular smartphones like the Redmi 8A, Motorola One Action, Realme 3, Motorola One Vision, iPhone 7, Lenovo A6 Note and many more. The 4-day sale will most likely bring discounts to more smartphones and might reduce the price of the iPhone XS through offers and discounts. The e-commerce giant promises that the Flipkart Republic day sale will host deals that should not be missed by smartphone enthusiasts.
According to the microsite providing a teaser of some of the offers that will be live during the sale, the Redmi 8A will be available at Rs 5,999, which means the smartphone is getting a Rs 500 discount from its original price of Rs6,499. The sale will also bring down the price of the Motorola One Action from Rs 10,999 to Rs 8,999. Apple enthusiasts will have the iPhone 7 32GB internal storage variant available at a discount of Rs 3000 from the original Rs 27,999 at Rs 24,999. Similarly, the Realme 3 will be available at Rs 6,999 from the current price of Rs 7,499.
Motorola One Vision, offering 128GB of storage will be priced at a reduced price of Rs 1000, from Rs 14,999 to Rs 13,999. The Lenovo A6 Note with a RAM of 3GB and internal storage of 32GB will be available at 5,499 from the original price of Rs 7,999. Likewise, the Moto E6s offering RAM of 4GB and internal storage of 64GB will be available to customers at 6,499 instead of the price of Rs 6,999. Customers looking to buy a phone of the Note series can get the Lenovo K10 Note at Rs 8,999 instead of the original price of Rs 11,999.
Flipkart will also be offering discounts on Asus phones. The Asus 5Z with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage will be available at just Rs 18,999 instead of the current price of Rs 21,999. The Asus Max M2 will be available at a reduced price of Rs 6,999 from the original 7,499. The Honor 10 Lite will be starting at a discounted rate of Rs 7,999 from the current price of Rs 8,499.
We have good reason to believe that the Republic day sale will also house some other great offers relating to electronics, smartphones and its accessories. The company claims that the sale will bring discounts of up to 80 per cent on electronics and related accessories. Popular electronics like laptops, smartwatches, and accessories like AirPods are expected to receive great discounts and prices. We also expect that digital cameras, DSLRs, and tablet enthusiasts will be pleased with the offers that are expected to air during the four days of the sale.
The company also mentioned a 45 per cent discount on branded laptops and desktops. We also expect that gamers will receive good discounts on availing their choice of consoles and accessories during the sale. Flipkart will also be having special discounts for ICICI credit card users and Kotak Mahindra debit and credit card users. Select products will have even lower prices that customers can avail through pre-booking.
SkullCandy recently launched its Sesh Truly wireless earbuds in India that cost Rs 5,999, according to the company, “these are designed to deliver a high-quality experience with essential features for those interested in making the jump to a truly wireless experience.” We spent a few days with the latest offering from the company and here’s our review of the SkullCandy Sesh Truly wireless earbuds:
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SkullCandy Sesh design
We’ll start by talking about the look and feel of the earbuds. The design of SkullCandy Sesh is very similar to most other earbuds that are currently available in the market. The body of the earbuds is made up of plastic and they perfectly fit into our ears. The biggest talking point of the SkullCandy Sesh Truly wireless earbuds is that they are extremely comfortable to wear. They also come with soft-touch buttons that can be used for increasing or decreasing the volume and music playback.
It is worth mentioning that these buttons do require some force to function, so it’s not like you would end up inadvertently adjusting the volume by an accidental touch on the earbuds. Having said that, some may feel that the new offering from SkullCandy are not as touch-sensitive as their competitors. But to us, it caused no problem during our time with them. SkullCandy Sesh Truly wireless earbuds also have support for digital assistants like Siri and Google Assistant.
Coming to the case, we can’t say that we are as impressed by it as we are with the earbuds. As compared to cases of other earbuds, it is quite big in size and also on the heavier side. If you are someone who always carries a bag with yourself, you wouldn’t face a problem with carrying the earbuds with yourself. However, if you are not one of these people, you may want to think twice before buying SkullCandy Sesh as they definitely cannot fit into the pocket of your jeans. But then, the case does have a big battery, and for some, this will justify the big size. It can give a battery backup of up to seven hours to the earbuds.
To indicate how much battery is left in the case, it has LED lights on it. There is also a button next to these LED indicators. It is worth noticing that the case has to be charged using a microUSB cable, which is becoming increasingly unpopular.
The wireless earbuds have two pogo pins that lock them in their respective slots in the case. The earbuds would begin to charge as soon as they are kept in the case.
To conclude, we would say that the earbuds are comfortable to wear and stylish to look at. They come with button gestures and have support for digital assistants too. The case could have been smaller and thinner, but then, as we mentioned earlier, not everyone will have a problem with that.
SkullCandy Sesh performance
Comfort is not the only aspect of the SkullCandy Sesh Truly wireless earbuds that’s worth talking about. If you are a bass lover, you are absolutely going to love these earbuds by SkullCandy. We heard music using the earbuds at various volumes and the audio quality always remained consistently good. No matter which genre of music we listened to on the earbuds, they always managed to deliver a good performance. But as we mentioned earlier, the earbuds were simply amazing when it came to playing bass-heavy music. We even listened to some instrumental music that was heavy on drums and guitar, and the wireless earbuds did a decent job at playing that too.
However, there is one thing that we would like to put forward. The audio quality of the earbuds does change when it is paired with different smartphones. For instance, it worked great with our Google Pixel 3a, but the quality did drop a bit when we paired it with Samsung Galaxy A50.
We also used the earbuds to attend various phone calls, and we encountered no problem listening to speaker or for that matter, being heard by them.
We should mention that a problem that we face with SkullCandy Indy, which we use regularly, is that it keeps falling off from our ears. The company has fixed this issue with its Sesh earbuds. They fit perfectly in our ears and didn’t come out till we pulled them ourselves.
One among the key highlights of SkullCandy Sesh is its battery life. We used the earbuds for a couple of hours every day during our time with them. With usage of this kind, we only had to charge it on the sixth day. We consider this to be good as most people have similar usage pattern. However, if you are someone who uses their earphones more heavily than this, the battery would run out sooner, obviously.
The SkullCandy Sesh earbuds come with IP55 rating, which basically means that they are resistant to sweat, water and dust. With this, you can easily use them for listening to music while working out, indoors or outdoors.
Verdict
At Rs 5,999, the SkullCandy Sesh Truly wireless earbuds are a good buy, especially if you are a bass lover. The audio quality of the earbuds is very good and we found them to be quite comfortable. The earbuds also perform well with various genres of music and at different volumes. However, we would have preferred their case to be smaller as it would make it easier to carry them. Also, the performance of the earbuds could be more consistent when paired with different devices.
Pros
Comfortable
Lasting battery life
Affordable
Cons
The case is too big
Performance across various devices could be more consistent.
Realme’s devices share ColorOS with Oppo devices currently. Realme has been consistently working on developing a brand new Realme UI. Realme UI will soon arrive for Realme users, the company recently announced. The brand promises an enriched design with unique features exquisitely for Realme smartphones and users. It is said that the new UI will be based on ColorOS 7 and Android 10 with improvements made to fix bugs and add features that will excite customers.
The company claims that the all-new Realme UI will be “fun” and will bring better visuals to customers in the form of colours, icons, wallpapers and in-built animations. Realme also claims that the interface comes with an original colour scheme that users will like and will contribute to a better user experience.
Realme users will soon be able to customise the icons and their shapes as per their choice. They will soon be able to change the icons to a rounder and better-looking shape. Users will also be enabled to change the transparency of the icons and personalise the size and the icon image. The all-new UI will also let Realme users choose from new wallpapers and eleven new backgrounds. The company says that the new backgrounds are inspired by nature will have matching colour schemes. The company also promises that users will enjoy the new “Super cool” animations that the operating system will bring.
However, Realme also said that the new User interface is not limited to only giving a better visual experience to users but also brings better performance. The company says that the new software will get along Android 10’s key features and provide a power-saving option to users. Users will also have access to brand new features like a Focus Mode, which enables users to isolate themselves while their smartphone plays relaxing concentration boosting music to aid the user to be more productive.
Another key feature a user can expect is the new personal information protection feature that will allow the smartphone’s operating system to provide empty information pages to apps, which requests access to personal information like call history, contacts, messages and calendar. The feature protects the device from an invasion of privacy while not limiting the functioning of the application requesting information. Realme also released a schedule for the stable rollout of the new UI. It is expected that all Realme devices being released this year will come with Realme UI and Android 10 in 2020.
Honor launched the Honor 9X smartphone, the Honor Magic 2 smartwatch, and the Honor Band 5i, Honor’s very own fitness band at a launch event on January 14, 2020 in India.
Honor 9X: Specifications, Price and Availability
The Honor 9X has a 6.59-inch full-HD+ display and runs Android 9 Pie with custom EMUI 9.1 skin. The device is powered by a HiSilicon Kirin 710F processor and has RAM of 4GB and 6GB according to the variant. The phone is equipped with a 4,000 mAh battery and has support for 10W charging.
The phone has a triple camera set-up with a 48MP primary sensor, with an 8MP wide-angle camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The front display has a pop-up 16MP camera sensor. The smartphone offers 128GB internal storage that can be expanded through a microSD card and comes in two variants of 4GB RAM and 6GB RAM. The phone offers connectivity through 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, A-GPS, and GLONASS. The phone also comes equipped with a range of sensors.
The base variant of 4GB will be priced at Rs 13,999 and the 6GB variant will be priced at Rs 16,999. The phone will be available in two colour variants of Midnight Black and Sapphire Blue, and will be available on Flipkart from January 19 in India.
Customers can also avail limited time offers after the smartphone goes on sale. 10% off scheme on ICICI credit card is also available.
Honor Magic Watch 2: Specifications, Price and Availability
The Honor Magic Watch 2 will be available in two variants of 42mm and 46mm. The 42mm variant has a 1.2-inch AMOLED display while the 46MM version has a 1.39-inch AMOLED panel. The Honor Magic Watch 2 supports a long battery life, with the 42mm version offering 7 days of continuous battery life and the 46mm variant offering 14 days on a full charge,
The Honor Magic Watch 2 offers users 8 outdoor modes, 7 indoor sports, a virtual pace-setter and a heart rate monitor. The device offers 5ATM water resistance and supports Huawei TruSleep 2.0 technology, which can help diagnose 6 types of common sleep disorders and can also monitor stress with the Huawei TruRelax feature. The 46mm model starts at a price of Rs 12,999 for a Charcoal Black variant with a Flax Brown variant is available for Rs 14,999. The 42mm model is priced at Rs 11,999 for the Agate black version while the Sakura gold version will cost Rs 14,999. The watches will be available to Amazon Prime members for purchase from January 18 and will be open for the public from 19 January.
Early buyers of the Honor Magic Watch 2 can choose from a multitude of offers available to certain bank users including discounts from credit card merchants.
Honor Band 5i: Specifications, Price and Availability
The Honor Band 5i has a 0.96-inch touch-responsive colour display and comes equipped with a 91mAh battery promising users’ life of up to 9 days on a single charge. The device has a 3-axis inertial sensor, an optical heart rate sensor and an infrared light wearing detection sensor. The fitness band offers connectivity through Bluetooth 4.2 and has 5ATM water resistance.
The device comes set with 9 sport modes and the ability to directly plug into USB ports without special apparatus. The smartband charges is said to charge fully in an hour and a half. The Honor Band 5i can pair with devices running on Android 4.4 and above, and iOS 9.0 and later devices. The Honor Band 5i is priced at Rs 1,999 and will be available a day earlier for Amazon Prime members from January 18 while other non-prime customers can buy the band from January 19 on Amazon.
OnePlus has been slowly and steadily making its name in India. The OnePlus 6 and 7 series broke all records in the last two years and became the best premium phone in the country. Now all eyes are on the next launch by the BBK owned Chinese company, which will be OnePlus 8 Pro. Pete Lau in a press conference in China has confirmed that the smartphone will indeed come with a 120Hz display. This will allow the company to compete with Asus ROG smartphones that have taken the mid-segment of the smartphone by storm.
Some renders of the OnePlus 8 Pro have been leaked online by Onleaks that show the front and back of the smartphone. Looking at that one can see that the mobile will sport 4 cameras at the back similar to the design of OnePlus 7 Pro. The pill type rear array will have 3 cameras and the fourth one will be on its side. The primary camera is likely to be a 64MP camera and one being an ultra-wide lens.
The LED flash will be under it with the OnePlus branding on the OnePlus 8 Pro. The right side of the smartphone will have the volume/ringer toggle key along with the power button. A secondary microphone can be seen here too. The left side will have the volume rocker keys. The bottom has the USB Type-C charging port as well as the primary microphone and speaker grille.
The front of the OnePlus 8 Pro will have an edge to edge display, but this time it will have a punch hole single camera in the display and not the pop-out selfie camera. The screen has curved sides and edges and there are almost no bezels as seen on the previous generations too. Inclusion of a 3.5mm audio port is still unclear.
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OnePlus 8 Pro technical specifications (likely)
There have been a lot of rumours flying when it comes to OnePlus 8 Pro. But few things are for certain as the company did speak on them at various press events around the globe. The OnePlus 8 Pro will be built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and is likely to come with 8GB RAM in the base model and 12GB RAM in the upper version. The internal storage of up to 512GB will be supported with the option to expand it further. The company’s CEO Pete Lau has also announced that the screen will support 120Hz refresh rate. Which means it will refresh 120 times in 1 second. That is as good as some of the best gaming monitors right now.
WiFi 6 will be supported and chances are there will be a dedicated gaming mode introduced in this smartphone. Android 10 will be available out of the box with the latest Oxygen OS on top. A 4,500+ mAh battery will be inside it that can give users full-day battery life. A 30W warp charger will also come in the box. The smartphone will support the 5G network.
Launch date and price
If the rumours are correct OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro will launch in Feb of 2020. The price is likely to be above Rs 60,000 for the pro version and around Rs 35,000 for the regular version. This means the company is getting further and further into the premium category. But with Samsung and others also getting aggressive this year will be a tough fight for them.
The first flagship launch by the Korean company (Samsung) is going to be held on 11th of Feb 2020. Yes, we are talking about the Samsung Unpacked event that is going to take place in Feb and will bring to life the next in its S series. Samsung is naming the next Galaxy S-series smartphone as S20 and S20+, not S11 or S11+. Since it is 2020 the series has skipped a decade. Also at the event, rumours are, Samsung will showcase its first clamshell-type foldable screen phone.
As the event comes near, it was evident that some leaks of the smartphone and its specs will come to life. Some images have been procured by XDAdevelopers of the Samsung Galaxy S20+, which show the smartphones form factor. Looking at these images one can see an array of 5 cameras on the glass back in rectangular placement with curved edges. The array also includes an LED flash. The inclusion of 5 cameras means that the Samsung Galaxy S20+ will have an ultra-wide camera, a telephoto lens and most probably a macro lens too.
The front of the smartphone houses an edge to edge display with a tiny cut-out punch hole camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+. The chin area is minimal and so are the side bezels. The front does resemble Samsung S10+, however, the back has its own identity. In the image, we can also see that Samsung will be putting a screen protector on the smartphone as well.
One can also see the power button and a volume rocker key on the right side of the smartphone, while the left side has no buttons. Availability of a 3.5mm audio port is also unclear. It might be there since the last edition also had it, but going by the Note 10 series by Samsung, it might not be there. Also, there might not be a dedicated Bixby button on this device.
Rumour mill also suggests that Samsung Galaxy S20+ mobile will be built on Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and will come with up to 12GB RAM. Storage can be up to 512GB and microSD card would be supported. It will be a dual SIM phone. In India like last time the Exynos series chipset driven Samsung Galaxy S20+ could be launched. It can come with Exynos 990 SoC for Indian consumers. The battery will be over 4,100 mAh and Wi-Fi 6 would be supported on this device. Well, these are still in the baking stages, but in about a months’ time, all will be clear tech-spec and otherwise.
Network congestion and call drops are one of the major reasons a user switches to another mobile network. If you have an office or live in a basement, you are likely to get a bad/weak cell signal, which will result in you not getting a call. And if you get a call or make a call, it will 95% drop or will have bad reception. To tackle the problem of bad connectivity Airtel launched Wi-Fi calling that will enable users that are on Airtel in a stable Wi-Fi zone to make voice calls over broadband/internet to any number. Airtel Wi-Fi calling started with a list of 20 phones first but is now supporting over 100 smartphones in India.
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So how can one make a call using Airtel Wi-Fi calls?
Remember this works on any Wi-Fi network and not just Airtel broadband.
You can first check if your smartphone can make Wi-Fi calls. Go to airtel.in/wifi-calling to see if your smartphone can do that.
At times you will find you are on an outdated OS so do upgrade it to the latest Android/iOS version for Wi-Fi calling to work.
Head over to the settings of the smartphone and check for Wi-Fi calling in connections or networks.
Switch the Wi-Fi calling on.
That’s it. You can now make calls over Wi-Fi even if you are in a basement. We tried it and the experience is quite decent We were on a 40MBPS (non-Airtel) broadband network and it was really good.
Here is the list of smartphones that are compatible with Airtel Wi-Fi calling
(Remember to upgrade the operating system to the latest one.)
Acer has been building laptops for quite some time now. They know what users want and they are great at building machines that have the latest hardware in a superb outer shell. Acer Swift 5 2019 edition came to us for a review that is made on the same lines. Let’s see how this machine performed on our test bench.
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Acer Swift 5 2019 Design and Display
The company has designed the Acer Swift 5 2019 very well. At a weight of just 990 grams, this machine is light to lug and easy to hold. The lightweight is appreciated as the insides hold some powerful machinery. This is a 14-inch machine that has a Full HD IPS touchscreen with 86.4% screen to body ratio. Yes, it is not as bezel-less as some of its competition, but it is right up there in the running. The screen brightness is 300 nits, which means it is great for both work and play. And that is what Acer is aiming at.
The display does not wash out under direct light and does not reflect it either. We played FHD videos on it and it did not stutter at all. HD webcam is also placed over the display for video chat. The bottom part has the backlit keyboard that is not very big but is easy to work with. Since it is a 14-inch machine you don’t get a super large touchpad, but it is not small either. A fingerprint sensor is also present here on the right side.
Two down-firing speakers are located at the bottom and one can find USB 3.1 ports, 1 USB Type-C port as well as 3.5mm audio and HDMI jacks on the right and the left side of the machine. Dressed in blueish black the Acer branding can be seen on the lid with the Swift 5 branding on the golden rear hinge. This hinge also lifts the laptop by a couple of degrees, helping in the typing ergonomics.
Acer Swift 5 Performance
Let’s first shed some light on the Acer Swift 5 2019’s technical specifications. This laptop comes with Intel Core i7 10th gen CPU, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. Together they make the laptop open in a blink of an eye, even when a resource-hungry Windows 10 is driving it. But it comes with Windows 10 Home and not Windows 10 Pro. Intel Iris Plus G7 onboard GPU gives it the graphical performance that is great for office use as well as light photoshop work. If you are a video editor or work on Maya/3D Max projects you might need to look elsewhere.
The battery is non-removable but is definitely one of its bright aspects. The company claims that it can last for over 12 hours. However, it did not last us for those many hours. We were able to get 8 hours out of it, which still is great. This was at 60% screen brightness with Wi-Fi on at all times. Talking about which the machine comes with Wi-Fi 6 that works well with the latest routers and has no lag when playing a game like Counter-Strike or Dota 2. But yes, we did miss a discreet graphic card when playing them.
The audio could also have been better, as the speaker set is just about decent. You might want external speakers in case you are watching a show on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Verdict
All in all, the Acer Swift 5 2019 is a great looking machine. It is slim, light and has good battery life. The screen is good and one can work in it for long. However, it does come with a hefty price tag. One would need to shell a little over a lakh for the device. Which when compared to its competition the rest are giving similar specs at a lower price rate with the discrete graphics card. But those carry 9th gen Intel CPU’s and not the 10th.
Apple Incorporated shares recently set a new upper limit for the company’s share value. This is all thanks to Apple’s customer base who spent a record-setting amount towards the end of the current holiday season. Apple claims that App store spends recently totalled 1.4 billion USD between Christmas and New Year’s. The spend during the same season last year was sixteen percent comparatively lesser. The stock value rose as much as 1.6%. and total gains since 2018 to 92%.
Apple has marked 2019 as a year of service offerings, because of the introduction of Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple card to the world. The App store, Apple music, iCloud and Apple air pods saw the creation of experiences only apple can deliver to their customer base.
According to Wedbush Securities Analyst, Daniel Ives, the rising spends on apps and the commercial success of smart wearables like the AirPods have helped Apple generate good revenue despite slow iPhone growth. He said that that the strength of the Cupertino based giant lay in monetized their golden base of 925 million iPhones across the world.
Gene Munster, famous analyst and founder of Loup ventures said that App store data is evidence that Apple’s service expansion is no longer linked directly only to iPhone sales and that the company’s shares should be traded at a higher multiple.
Apple also recently said that App store spends on the first day of 2020 touched 386 million USD, a record for sales in a single day and an increase from past years.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services said “2019 was the biggest year for Services in Apple’s history. We introduced several exciting new experiences for our customers, all while setting the standard for user privacy and security; We begin the new decade with incredible momentum and gratitude to our customers who have shown such enthusiasm for all of our Services, and we continue to celebrate the work of the world’s best creators, storytellers, journalists and developers.”
Realme might release a smartwatch in India in 2020. While there is no official information or announcement from the company, a new rumour suggests that a smartwatch by the company recently received a BIS or Bureau of Indian Standards certificate. Realme India CEO, Madhav Sheth recently launched the Realme 5i in the country through a live video stream where users caught a fleeting glimpse of a fit band similar in design to the Mi band.
Rumours allege that the BIS certificate showed the Realme smartwatch with a model number of RMA183 and that the watch was registered on January 6 2020, which makes us believe a launch may occur sometime soon.
November 2019 saw the teasers begin from Realme that claimed the arrival of their tech lifestyle in India. The company says that they are not just another smartphone vendor now. The business last month revealed the Realme Buds air, their answer to the truly wireless Apple AirPods.
Madhav Sheth, claimed that the company is planning to bring more customer-centric, wearable products. He also revealed last month that the Realme fitness band will make an appearance in the first half of 2020. He also teased a yellow coloured silicone fitness band while hosting the release of the Realme 5i.
The Realme 5i is the company’s latest release and addition to their product line.
The Realme 5i is powered by Snapdragon 665 octa-core chipset and has a 6.52-inch full-screen display. The device has a 5,000 mAh battery and a quad-camera setup, including an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens with a main camera of 12-Megapixel, a portrait lens of 2-Megapixel and an ultra-macro lens of 2-Megapixel as well. The front camera is of 8-Megapixel. The Realme 5i will run Android 9.0 with ColorOS 6.0 and will be upgraded to Android 10 with ColorOS 7 by May 2020. The phone is available in one variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The device will be available for sale on the Realme website and Flipkart from January 15, 2020, at 12 PM for a price of Rs 8,999. The smartphone is available in two colour variants-Forest Green and Aqua Blue.
Facebook is constantly working on improving their wide base on social media. In what seems to be a step towards integration of their apps, Facebook is working towards turning WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram as one experience. The social networking titan recently added a screen to both WhatsApp and Instagram in an update, which says “WhatsApp from Facebook, and Instagram from Facebook” respectively.
The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has been on the news the past year frequently. He recently unveiled his plans to integrate Facebook’s chat services, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger with the company’s photo-sharing application, Instagram. This new feature will possibly allow users to communicate across platforms. Mark Zuckerberg called this a long term project and that cross-app messaging may happen anytime in 2020 or in the future beyond 2020. WABetaInfo, a fan-run website which provides users details of updates to WhatsApp noticed the new feature and said that WhatsApp from Facebook is added to the WhatsApp status of newly registered users.
Since September 2019, WhatsApp Android users have had the option to share their WhatsApp status on to their Facebook stories directly through a button that appears after a user posts a story on the popular messaging app. WhatsApp statuses, just like Instagram stories last for 24 hours from the time or uploading or till the user removes them. WhatsApp status currently lets users post images, text and videos which last for 24 hours as their status.
Facebook’s video calling facility also works with a WhatsApp account and allows users to video call their contacts and see the stories of their friends and family even without a Facebook account.
Zuckerberg said that the data encryption feature held more charm to him than the commercial benefits of complete integration between the three platforms. He said that he is excited that the integration will mean end-to-end encryption in more Facebook products letting users save their privacy and data by encryption. He also said that a number of users have requested the ability to message their friends across platforms. The integration could also largely help give out higher user engagement to advertisers growing companies who look to Facebook ads for marketing their products and services.
While the world is focusing on the tech news from CES 2020, Walmart owned E-commerce giant Flipkart added another product to their portfolio under the label, “MarQ by Flipkart”. The first laptop under this series is reportedly called the Falkon Aerbook. The Falkon Aerbook is thin and light in design and will be powered by Intel’s generation 8 processor. The laptop is scheduled to be for sale only through Flipkart’s website countrywide starting at a price of Rs 39,990 from 17th of January, 2020.
The Falkon Aerbook is said to be of 1.26kg in weight and measuring 16.5mm in thickness. The full-HD display will be of 13.3-inches empowered for powerful visuals. The CPU of the Aerbook will be Intel’s gen 8 Core-i5. The Falkon Aerbook will come with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD, which can be expanded up to 1TB. The Falkon Aerbook promises a 5-hour battery life with a 37 Watt-hours battery.
Flipkart claims that a lot of research and development went into the decision to introduce the Falkon Aerbook. The online marketplace giant says that they analysed millions of customer reviews and purchases to understand the modern laptop buyer and their constant lookout for an affordable, high performing, and sleek laptop. Flipkart came into partnership with Intel and Microsoft to produce a laptop fulfilling customer demands and specifications at this price. Flipkart claims that the thin and light laptop segment will grow in the next two years exponentially.
Adarsh Menon, the Senior Vice President of the Private Brands, Electronics and Furniture division of Flipkart said “the MarQ portfolio aims to create and design customer-friendly products that fulfil aspirations customers seek without having to worry about budget and spending. He also went on to speak about the Falkon Aerbook, saying that the laptop provides the best features creating a strong value to customers bringing on-the-go computing to a wider range of audience. Flipkart, with Intel and Microsoft’s assistance have developed a laptop giving superior performance without compromising on size and specifications while meeting the needs of Indian customers and their budgets.”
It has been barely a month since Airtel introduced a service for its users in Delhi-NCR where they could switch from LTE based network to a Wi-Fi-based network that its competitor Reliance Jio has launched a similar service. This service too lets users make voice and video calls over Wi-Fi networks. Jio claims that this service has been tested over the recent past few months to provide users with a good experience while engaged in calls at home or office. Now, Customers are empowered to use any Wi-Fi network to enable Jio Wi-Fi calls. Users can now switch between VoLTE and Wi-Fi networks effortlessly to enable quality voice and video calling experiences.
“At this juncture, when an average Jio consumer uses over 900 minutes of voice calls every month, and at a growing base of consumers, the launch of Jio Wi-Fi Calling will further enhance every Jio consumer’s voice-calling experience, which is already a benchmark for the industry with India’s-first all VoLTE network,” Reliance Jio Director Akash Ambani said.
Recent rumours suggest that Reliance Jio is now working a feature phone with one function in mind. It is believed that this feature phone will be called the “Jio Phone Lite” and will only support the making and attending of voice calls. It is believed that the phone will be priced below Rs 399 and will come equipped to make voice calls only. The device is expected to have a small display with an alphanumeric keyboard. Rumours also suggest that post-launch of the device, Jio will launch exclusive plans like a Rs 50 plan enabling unlimited voice calls from the Jio phone lite. It is not yet confirmed if this phone is really going to be launched or if it’s a rumour that has no base in reality. Reliance Jio has not made any official announcement about the Jio phone lite.
Samsung launched their latest range of air conditioners on January 9 in India. This lineup includes the Windfree-AC 2.0 series, the premium triple inverter series, the Eco Inverter and On/Off split ACs. The new lineup has over 40 models, which are strategically designed and priced to suit a wide range of customers. The new range is scheduled to be available at Samsung stores and partnership stores offline in the country before the end of January.
The Wind-Free 2.0 Series uses its micro-holes to disperse air throughout the room it is installed in till the user’s desired temperature is reached. This 2.0 version has 23,000 holes compared to the 21,000 holes of the predecessor device. The Wind-Free 2.0 lets users control their ACs sans remote through their Smartphone. This AC enables users to control it using the Smart Home app through Wi-Fi. Users now have the ability to monitor and limit power usage according to their needs. The AC is also equipped with Motion detecting sensors to go into energy-saving mode if human motion is not detected every 60 minutes. The product comes with a warranty of 10 years on the compressor and has a digital inverter which helps users maintain the temperature of their choice. The AC also comes with an Easy filter feature to combat contaminants presence in the air around the room.
Meanwhile, the Triple Inverter series comes with a convertible mode as an option, letting the user convert the AC into a less power-consuming device as per their choice. These air conditioners are powered with 8-pole inverter technology to promote energy saving. The device also produces minimal vibration while in use.
Samsung has also released the first range of Eco inverter equipped ACs in India. These ACs are available in four different designs. Some models also have a Hidden Backlit display and a crystal design as a part of its aesthetic appeal. This entire range has a 10-year warranty on the Digital inverter compressors and comes equipped with features like Turbo cooling, Anti Dust and a bacteria filter.
The last latest addition by Samsung is the all-new On/Off series. Samsung has announced that they will be launching 4 new additions in the 1 Ton and 1.5 Ton configurations to the series across different designs. The entire range comes with a 5-year warranty on the compressors and has features like turbo cooling.
The range of prices for all of these air conditioning devices begins at Rs 35,990 and will go up till 73,990. Samsung has also announced EMI options that customers can avail at zero down payment.
Realme announced their first phone in the New Year in India. The Realme 5i will be the company’s latest addition to the Realme 5 series. This phone looks to be the effort of the company to produce a budget smartphone to flag 2020 phones in India with. The company claims that the Realme 5i will exceed all expectations and be the best smartphone in its category.
The Realme 5i is powered by Snapdragon 665 octa-core chipset, this gives the phone a core processor which works at a clock speed of 2.0GHz with improved graphics performance and features. The phone has a 6.52-inch full-screen display promising users a good experience be it in the form of gaming, audio or video. The device has a 5,000 mAh battery and a quad-camera setup.
The quad-camera setup includes an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens with a main camera of 12-Megapixel, a portrait lens of 2-Megapixel and an ultra-macro lens of 2-Megapixel as well. The front camera is of 8-Megapixel. The Realme 5i will run Android 9.0 with ColorOS 6.0 and will be upgraded to Android 10 with ColorOS 7 by May 2020. The Realme 5i also supports reverse charging. The phone is available in one variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The device will be available for sale on the Realme website and Flipkart from January 15, 2020, at 12 PM for a price of Rs 8,999. The smartphone is available in two colour variants-Forest Green and Aqua Blue.
Madhav Sheth, the CEO of Realme India, gave a statement. He said,” We are happy that over 5.5 million customers have enjoyed our realme 5 series and the newest addition realme 5i will further solidify our budget Quad-Camera category. Our customers will be provided with stunning design, bigger view along with bigger storage and a powerful Quad Camera set up in realme 5i. We have equipped realme 5 series with the best-in-class processors, designs and camera experience to deliver unmatched user experience.”
Users buying the Realme 5i on Realme’s website can avail 10% supercash worth Rs 1,000 by making a payment through Mobikwik. Users also have an option of availing an offer from Jio that offers benefits worth Rs 7,550 to users. Users can also exchange their old phone through a cashify exchange to avail a Rs 500 discount.
The Consumer Electronics Show sees a number of cool innovations every year. CES 2020 is no exception to this and we have already seen a slew of futuristic concepts and devices there. The latest one among these is VR glasses from Panasonic. One thing very different about Panasonic’s offering is that they don’t look the way most other VR headsets do. Instead, they pretty much look like any other pair of regular glasses, but obviously their lenses are way thicker. But even then, the difference in their look and feel is an extreme improvement over what we have seen so far with the likes of Oculus and HTC Vive.
Other than this, Panasonic has also said that the glasses come with a number of technical enhancements as compared to other solutions that are currently available in the market. The micro-OLED panels of the glasses have been developed by Panasonic in collaboration with Kopin and the company has said that they are extremely high-resolution and do not have any ‘screen-door effect’. This, according to the company, sets them apart from other VR headsets. Panasonic has also said that its VR glasses are the first ever in the world to support HDR.
The company has used its own audio technology in its VR glasses and Technic drivers have been deployed in the earbuds. Panasonic has promised rich and dynamic sound experience because of these. Furthermore, optical designs from Lumix camera division have been used. We should mention that signal processing technologies that are similar to the one used in Panasonic VR glasses have been found in the company’s televisions and Blu-ray players.
We should mention that Panasonic has not as yet said anything about the availability or the price of its VR glasses. If some speculations are to be believed, then the company may not sell them as a consumer product at all. We don’t find that hard to believe as a number of innovations that are showcased at CES never really make it to the consumer market.
However, it is also worth pointing out that Panasonic has hinted about some commercial applications of the VR glasses that it plans to implement once 5G networks become widespread. Among these applications are virtual travel and VR sports.
Although we would have to wait to see that sort of a thing happening, one thing we can say is that other companies can really take a cue from Panasonic’s VR glasses and start making sleeker VR equipment.
South Korean technology giant Samsung has made a number of exciting announcements at the ongoing CES 2020 tech show. The latest news from the company is that it has announced the release of its external storage device – the Portable Solid State Drive (SSD) T7 Touch. Samsung has said that with the SSD, it has seeked to combine a compact design with “fastest transfer speeds” that are currently available on the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard.
The company has also said that the new device has enhanced data protection and as an additional hardware security measure, it has a built-in fingerprint sensor.
Speaking on the launch, Akash Saxenaa, Senior Director, Enterprise Sales, Samsung India, said, “Consumers who are constantly on the go between work, play and passion projects want to be able to securely carry their content with them. Now their data is secure thanks to the fingerprint recognition functionality incorporated into the product, which delivers industry-leading transfer speeds in a compact form factor.”
According to Samsung, the SSD is meant for professional as well as casual users and the company has also said that the T7 Touch has enough capacity to store large numbers of pictures, games or 4K/8K videos in a secure manner. The company has further added that the SSD can do so on a PC, tablet, smartphone or a gaming console.
The newly-launched SSD by Samsung is said to come with a significant speed upgrade as compared to its predecessors. Samsung T7 Touch has a read speed of 1,050MB/s and a write speed of 1,000MB/s, and this makes it approximately twice as fast as its predecessor, the T5. In addition to this, it is also 9.5 times faster than external HDDs, Samsung added. The new SSD is also said to reach its maximum speed when used with the NVMe interface.
As we mentioned earlier, Samsung has also added a built-in fingerprint scanner to the SSD to make it more secure. Other than this, it also has password protection and AES 256-bit hardware encryption. The SSD also has a ‘Motion LED’ that enables the user “to determine the status of the device simply with a single glance.”
Samsung T7 Touch comes with a three-year limited warranty and will be available in over 30 countries across the globe starting this month.
Samsung T7 Touch is available in Black and Silver colours and comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB options. While the base model costs Rs 11,999, the 1TB option is priced at Rs 18,999, the most high-end model can be picked up at Rs 36,999. There is also a variant without fingerprint scanner that is expected to be launched in Q2 2020.
California-based technology giant Google has a very cool new feature of Google Assistant on preview at the ongoing CES 2020. This new feature will enable Google Assistant on Android smartphones to turn the device into a supercharged screen reader. With this, the users will have the ability of making Google Assistant read out articles or any text on webpages to them just by saying “Hey Google, read this.”
It is worth pointing out that screen readers are not a new feature on smartphones. However, Google has said that it has now enhanced its digital assistant’s ability to parse sentences. So now, with this improvement, Google Assistant will be able to read out texts on webpages in a more natural and human-like fashion.
But then, that’s not even the coolest thing about the new enhancements. Google has said that its Assistant now has the ability to read out text in up to 42 languages.
We should mention that even now, when these enhancements in Google Assistant have not been rolled out, it has the ability to parse whatever is written on your smartphone’s screen when you ask it to. This feature was launched by Google in 2015, which means that it has existed for longer than Assistant itself. For those unaware, the feature — called ‘Now on Tap’ — often pops up as a suggested action whenever you access Google Assistant.
Right now, the new screen reading feature is just in preview and there is no word on when it will be rolled out. Personally, we are looking forward to it because we think this is going to be extremely useful. Google has also said that it is now focussing on auto-scroll webpages that will be activated when the Assistant is made to read webpages. The company also plans to add the ability to automatically highlight text on webpages.
All this put together will make Google Assistant far more useful than what it already is.
Other than this, Google has also said that Assistant’s ‘interpreter mode’ — which has till now been present in smartphones and smart displays — will be coming to more of its partners including airport lounges, banks, and even hotels. The company, in fact, is even collaborating with Mercy Corps and will be providing interpreter mode speakers for the charity work done by the organization.
Other than this, the company has announced a number of new Google Assistant features today like better integration with smart homes, enhancements in notes and more transparency in terms of privacy.
Qualcomm flagged off the 5G era in smartphones recently. The leading manufacturer of chipsets made flagship and mid-range chips, now compatible with 5G standards and we will see them rolling out throughout 2020. Realme using this technology, introduced their all-new 5G supporting device, the Realme X50 5G in China.
Realme X50 technical specifications
Realme announced their premiere premium 5G supporting smartphone in China, the X50 5G. the device has a 6.5-inch LCD display with a dual-camera setup on the front housing a 16-Megapixel selfie camera and an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide camera in punch hole form. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G offering RAM of 6GB, 8GB and 12GB with 128GB and 256GB internal storage options.
Talking about the rear camera set-up, the Realme X50 has a 64-megapixel main sensor promising good pictures as claimed by the company. The 64-megapixel camera is supported by a 12-megapixel telephoto lens, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 2-megapixel macro camera. The rear camera setup looks to be aimed at giving users a good photo experience by the company. Connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth, USB type-c and GPS. it has 4,200 mAh battery with VOOC fast charge support.
Realme X50 price
This X50 5G is the first device by the company, which has a modified version of the ColorOS called the Realme UI. This device starts at a price of 2,499 CNY (around Rs 25,800) to 2999 CNY (around Rs 30,900).
Realme India recently announced that the company will launch the Realme 5i in India. The device will be launched on January 9, 2020. The device is expected to come powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chip with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with a variant having 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It will be a budget smartphone with an LCD display of 6.5-inch supporting HD+ resolution.
The rear houses a 4 camera setup with cameras of 12MP, 8MP and two 2MP lenses. The battery is expected to be a 5,000 mAh battery with support for fast charging. The phone comes with Android Pie 9 OS with ColorOS 6. It will be available in colour variants of Green and Blue at the back in gradients. The device will offer connectivity through Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and USB Type-C. The price of the device is not confirmed yet.
The CES 2020 trade show in Las Vegas saw some of the most innovative and promising technology in the world held at Las Vegas, USA. Noted companies like Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) displayed some of the most promising chipsets to the world. These chipsets enable laptop manufactures to create long-lasting and battery efficient devices. While some will be available within devices 2020, others will take their sweet time to appear.
Intel
Intel is the current acclaimed world leader in the world of chipsets for desktops and laptops. Intel CEO Bob Swan did not shed much light on new Intel products but highlighted devices, which were born of the partnership between Intel and other companies. They displayed the high-end Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold, which is a 2-in-1 device that can turn from a laptop into a tablet-like device with a display of 13-inch. Intel also displayed their prototype, the Horseshoe Bend, which has a 17-inch screen.
Intel then made claims about their upcoming Tiger Lake processors, which will power laptops that are structurally thin and light. The Tiger Lake processors offer improved performance and support for Thunderbolt 4. The company said that these chipsets will reach the market by late 2020.
Advanced Micro Devices
The CEO of Advanced Micro Devices or AMD, Lisa Su unveiled new chipsets made for laptops and desktops. She also revealed the prices and shed light on the availability of these chipsets.
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper chip is made for desktop PCs. The company said, these are perfect for high-end customers like content creators and analysts. Each chip of the Ryzen Threadripper is composed of 64 separate cores and will be available from 7 February starting at a price of 4,000 USD. The multi-core will give users the ability to process through heavy tasks that would otherwise take time.
AMD also introduced the Ryzen 4000 chipset that is made for laptops. This chip can run at high speeds of up to 4.2GHz and will outperform its competitors.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is one of the biggest manufacturers of chipsets for mobile smartphone devices. At the CES 2020, Qualcomm introduced chipsets called the Snapdragon Driving Platform, which can handle driving duties in self-driving vehicles. The company also highlighted the announcement of a new service called Car-to-Cloud, which will enable auto manufacturers to send wireless software updates to the vehicles.
Nvidia
Meanwhile, Nvidia spoke about their new monitor made for PC gamers, which is called the ROG 360, the 24-inch monitor which uses Nvidia’s G-synch technology to enable a fast refresh rate of 360Hz. They also displayed a Toyota Robot called the T-HR3, which can be controlled by a Human operator equipped with VR goggles and linked controllers. The T-HR3 runs on Nvidia’s chipsets.
All of these chipsets hold the promise of a higher quality of devices and users can expect great performance from them.
