During Amazon’s Fab Phones Fest Sale, a number of smartphones were available at discounted prices. Among these, OnePlus 6T could be bought at a reduced price too. Although the sale on Amazon India ended on April 13, the smartphone is still being sold with a discount.
During the Amazon India’s sale, which was live from April 11 to April 13, OnePlus 6T was available at a starting price of Rs 34,999, instead of Rs 37,999. And as we mentioned earlier, even though the sale is over, the website is still selling the OnePlus 6T at the same discounted price. However, Amazon has listed that the OnePlus 6T is on a ‘Limited Time Deal’ and it will end soon. All the other variants of the OnePlus 6T are also selling at a discounted rate currently.
Currently, the OnePlus 6T with 6GB RAM/128GB storage is selling for Rs 34,999 while the 8GB RAM/128GB storage variant is selling for Rs 37,999, instead of Rs 41,999. The highest variant of the device with 8GB RAM/256GB storage is selling for Rs 41,999, instead of its original price of Rs 45,999.
Other than this, those who pay for the OnePlus 6T via ICICI bank Credit and Debit Card (EMI transactions) will also get an instant discount of Rs 1,500. Additionally, there is also Rs 15 Amazon Pay Cashback with No Rush Delivery. The 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant of the OnePlus 6T is also listed on the no-cost EMI option through the Amazon Pay ICICI credit cards. Although the OnePlus 6T variants are listed at a discounted price on Amazon India, but on the official OnePlus India Store website, the devices are available at their original prices.
The price cut on the OnePlus 6T variants could be a result of the upcoming device from company – the OnePlus 7. According to a leak, the OnePlus 7 will be launched on May 14 and it will come in three variants – OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro and the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. Some of the known and expected specifications of the upcoming OnePlus 7 are the pop-up selfie camera, a triple rear-camera setup, Snapdragon 855 SoC, a 48MP main camera and much more. It should also be noted that, earlier, the OnePlus 6T devices also received a permanent price cut in China which further proved that the company is trying to clear its stock before launching its next flagship device.
Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is loved by scores of technology lovers across the globe. In India, it has created a place for itself in the Indian smartphone market by offering premium specifications at a relatively affordable price. All OnePlus fans are now waiting for the launch of the company’s next smartphone – OnePlus 7.
A lot has been reported about the upcoming smartphone and the report that is the most widely-believed till now is the one that suggests that OnePlus 7 will come with a pop-up selfie camera and a triple rear camera setup. And now, we may soon find out the launch date of the device.
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has teased that the company is planning to reveal the launch date of its next smartphone on Wednesday. As we have mentioned earlier, the smartphone will be called OnePlus 7 and it will succeed the OnePlus 6T (review). It will reportedly be the first smartphone by the company to come with a pop-up selfie camera and three cameras on the back since OnePlus used notches to house the front snappers in its previous models which came with dual rear cameras.
I know you guys are stoked to hear about the new device – check back to see my post this Wednesday 😬
Along with OnePlus 7, the company is also expected to unveil a pair of truly wireless earbuds at the launch event. According to a recent report, the company will be launching the smartphone on May 14. We should mention that the said date is in line with OnePlus’ previous launches.
Lau teased the upcoming announcement of the next OnePlus smartphone on Twitter. He took to the microblogging website to say, “I know you guys are stoked to hear about the new device – check back to see my post this Wednesday.”
It is worth noticing that he did not mention anything about the upcoming smartphone.
According to prior reports, OnePlus will be unveiling three smartphones instead of one this time. This will include OnePlus 7’s vanilla edition, OnePlus 7 Pro, and OnePlus 7 5G. The OnePlus 7 Pro is reported to sport a dual-edged 6.67-inch Super Optic display. The smartphone is said to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor clubbed with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
The handset will reportedly come with a triple rear camera setup that will comprise of a 48MP primary sensor, a 16MP secondary sensor and an 8MP sensor. It has also been reported that the smartphone will come with Android 9 Pie and have a USB Type-C port.
Indian electronic maker Syska has announced a new pair of earphones named the Syska Ultrabass HE2000. With the launch of the new earphones, Syska hopes to provide the consumers an enhanced audio quality with a good bass. With Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones, the has added another product to its ever-increasing mobile accessories line-up.
The Ultrabass HE2000 earphones comes with high definition built-in mic that is capable of giving noise-free communication during a call. The earphones also come with a multifunctional button which can be used to play, pause, control volume and track speed control as well.
In This Article
Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones price and availability
The Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones come with a price tag of Rs 899 and it comes with a range of colour options to choose from – Black, Blue, Green and Yellow.
The Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones will be available for purchase from major e-commerce websites starting today. With the purchase of the earphones, the customers will also get one-year warranty.
Furthermore, currently there is a sale that is live on Amazon India where the Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones are being offered for Rs 589 instead of Rs 899.
Commenting on the launch of the Syska Ultrabass earphones, Gurumukh Uttamchandani, Executive Director of the Syska Group said, “Our millennial consumers and music lovers look for audio devices that give them a superior music experience at competitive prices. At Syska, we believe in bringing innovative products that would make a positive impact on the mobile accessories market in India. That said, it gives me immense pleasure to launch the Syska Ultrabass earphones that are designed to provide comfort while listening, is convenient in carrying and is aesthetically appealing”.
Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones specifications and features
The Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones come with a 1.2m anti-winding TPE Flat cable that offers the users a tangle-free experience. As mentioned above, the Ultrabass HE2000 earphones has a built-in high definition microphone which gives the user a noise free communication so that the person on the other side hear the audio clearly. As the name suggests, Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones comes with Hi-Fi Music and Deep Bass that gives the user a clear sound with thumping and rich bass. The newly launched earphones also comes with multifunctional buttons which gives the user control over play, pause, volume and track speed.
Syska Ultrabass Earphone
The Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones has inbuilt Noise Cancellation that gives the user a noise free audio experience. In the box, the Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones packs comfortable and different ear bud’s sizes that the user can choose from. And according to the company, the earbuds are sterilised, which keeps then germ free so that they don’t irritate the user when worn for a long period of time. The Syska Ultrabass HE2000 earphones are compatible with all types of smartphones, tablets, PCs, Mac along with all types of music players.
Xiaomi India has released a few teasers of its upcoming smartphone with the 32MP selfie camera since the beginning of this month. The next smartphone by Xiaomi – Redmi Y3 – is confirmed to come with a high-resolution front camera which will capture better selfies. And now, the company has also confirmed the launch date of the upcoming handset. The Redmi Y3 will the next iteration of the selfie camera-centric Redmi Y2 that was launched by Xiaomi back in 2018. According to the Chinese smartphone brand, the Redmi Y3 will be launched in India on April 24.
Xiaomi earlier took to micro-blogging website Twitter to announce that the Redmi Y3 will have a 32MP selfie camera that will let the users click better and high-resolution selfies with more details. The company’s teasers also talk about ‘32MP Super Selfie’, which the Redmi Y3 will be able to take. But other than the launch date and the front camera of the device, the specifications and the price of the Redmi Y3 is currently not known.
The company also sent out invites of the launch to media which say that the event will be held on April 24 at 12:00pm IST. Other than the front camera, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has also put a silhouette of the device on its Twitter handle which indicates that the Redmi Y3 will come with a waterdrop style notched display similar to the Redmi Note 7 and the Redmi Note 7 Pro.
The front camera of the Redmi Y3 is reported to be Samsung’s 32-megapixel ISOCELL Bright GD1 image sensor that was announced by the South Korean technology giant in October 2018. Other than the camera, the company had also tweeted about the battery of the device saying that the Redmi Y3 will pack a ‘larger battery’. The battery of the Redmi Y3 is claimed to give users a much-longer on-screen time before dying. A ‘larger battery’ could mean something between the 4,000mAh and the 5,000mAh battery range. However, it is not yet known if the Redmi Y3 will have support for fast-charging technology.
Y should selfies be less detailed? Y can’t we change the way we look at them?
Y wait? The #32MPSuperSelfie is coming your way soon. Revealing on 24-04-2019.
— Redmi India – #Redmi9 is here! (@RedmiIndia) April 15, 2019
Earlier, the Redmi Y3 was spotted on the Wi-Fi Alliance listing which hinted that the launch of the device was near, and now that the company has revealed the launch date of the device. According to the listing, the Redmi Y3 carries a model number M1810F6G and it will run Android 9 Pie skinned with MIUI 10. The Redmi Y3 handset also comes with the support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n standards.
Viewsonic is not a new name in the Indian market when it comes to monitors or projectors. We recently got our hands on the Viewsonic TD 1630-3 Touch LED monitor to review it and found out some neat things. What are they? Read the rest of our review.
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Design
Going by what Viewsonic has been producing in the past this is something quite different, since this LED panel has a touchscreen. But, before we talk about its performance lets quickly go over its aesthetics. Out of the box it looks like a simple and plain monitor, till you realise there is no base stand on it. Instead, this 15.6-inch monitor has a swivel out metal stand at the back which can move to almost 90 degrees and back to lie flat, and can be used as a tablet.
The front part of the Viewsonic TD 1630-3 Touch LED monitor is basically built of the touchscreen with the power and other buttons along with Viewsonic branding at the bottom. The monitor is light and can be easily placed on any desk big or small. At the back there are downward facing ports, which include power, USB, VGA and HDMI as well as audio in. Talking about audio, there are two 1W upward firing speakers in this monitor. Dressed in grey and black plastic, there is nothing unusual about the monitor, till you come to the workings of it.
Performance
Now here is where all the fun begins. The Viewsonic TD 1630-3 Touch LED monitor is excellent when it comes to touch performance. We used it with HDMI and setting it up via USB was not hard at all. The USB basically enables the touch part of it and response time for the tap to performance is not bad. We ran the usual tests when we found that this monitor does not support FHD graphics and just HD (720p) is supported.
But that does not mean it is not great to work with. Yes, the games were not running at its optimum, but that is not what the monitor is made for. It is made for professional work use. Which it does just fine. The screen has 7H hardness which keeps it scratch proof, but the constant touches and taps does make it a fingerprint magnet and we for one do like our monitors smudge free.
The viewing angles on the monitor are not great as they support on only up to 90 degrees. Neither is the sound since 1W does not do justice to the multimedia experience. But what is good are its colours, they are bright and crisp. Blacks are not bad either. Though we have seen better from some other less expensive Viewsonic monitors.
Verdict and Final Words
The Viewsonic TD 1630-3 Touch LED monitor is compatible with Windows 7 and later along with Linux OS. So, the touch experience on a desktop is good for basic daily professional tasks. But, one would not want to use it all the time in an office setup. It at times did feel like a gimmick, but some professionals would want a touch experience from their monitor. Like? When it comes to POS systems or shops where one wants to demo things, it will be a good option to have there. However, with a price tag of Rs 20,000 for a touch monitor that does not support full HD graphics is a bit steep.
Almost four years back in 2015, Aston Martin promised its fans that it will be launching an electric car. And now, keeping its word, the company has finally revealed its first all-electric car called ‘Rapide E’. The newly-launched car was unveiled by Aston Martin today at the Shanghai Auto Show. The Aston Martin Rapide E is based on the auto-maker’s existing combustion engine Rapide sedan and the company has also said that only the 155 will be made available.
The new electric car is powered by an 800-volt, 65kWh battery, which according to the company can make the vehicle run “over 200 miles” on a single charge. Aston Martin Rapide E has twin motors placed on its rear axle that will be able to generate 450kW (more than 600 horsepower). The motors can also get the new car to a speed of up to 155 miles per hour.
Furthermore, Aston Martin has also said that the car will be able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under four seconds. We should mention that this is faster than the standard internal combustion Rapide S. The company has also ensured that the car doesn’t take too long to be charged.
According to Aston Martin, Rapide E’s battery will be recharged at a rate of 31 miles per hour.
Speaking of in-car tech, the Rapide E will sport a 10-inch digital instrument cluster, which will be placed behind its steering wheel. In addition to this, right above its dashboard, an 8-inch display will be placed that will handle all the infotainment related duties. The display will have support for Apple CarPlay as well as Android Auto.
The body of the car looks a lot like the combustion engine car’s that it is based on. The difference is in the electric blue accents on the headlights of the car and the brake callipers. While the looks are similar, the internals are completely different.
To begin with, the battery system of Rapide E has been placed where the V12 engine, gearbox, and fuel tank are placed in the combustion version.
However, unlike electric cars from Tesla, Aston Martin’s Rapide E does not have a full floor of batteries. The company may have decided to do this to cut down on some costs, but we should add here that this obviously reduces the number of battery cells and capacity that have been used in the electric car. Another thing worth adding is that Rapide E weighs 4,717 pounds, which is around 400 pounds more than Rapide S.
The next iteration of the PlayStation gaming console might be the PlayStation 5 or the PS5 and it will be launched by Sony in 2020. Although we are still a year away from the release and there’s no official word from Sony, a report has surfaced online which reveals the launch dates, price, games and the specifications of the PlayStation 5.
According to a third-party developer from Europe, the launch games of the PlayStation 5 will include Gran Turismo 7, a PUBG remaster and Battlefield Bad Company 3 among others. The post also claims that the PlayStation 5 will be priced around $499 (approximately Rs 35,000) and will be released either in March 2020 or November 2020.
According to the report from Pastebin, the games which would be included with the launch of the PlayStation 5 will be Gran Turismo 7, PUBG remaster (4K free to play with PS+ only on PS5), Last of Us: Part II remaster, Ghost of Tsushima remaster, Battlefield Bad Company 3, Harry Potter and Assassin’s Creed. The leaks further suggest that Horizon Zero Dawn 2 will be released sometimes in 2021 while GTA 6 will have a one-month exclusivity title for the PlayStation 5.
The GTA 6 will be the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series and it will be set in two big cities – Miami and New York City/ Liberty City. Furthermore, the PlayStation 5 will reportedly also have backwards compatibility, the presence of physical games, an AMD Ryzen CPU along with a Navi GPU.
Talking about the specifications of the PlayStation 5, according to the leaks, the next iteration of the PlayStation will come with 24GB of DDR6 RAM out of which 4GB DDR4 will be used for the OS, 8K upscaling, 2TB HDD with “some NAND flash” as well as DualShock 5 controllers. There will also be a camera for VR tracking in the PlayStation 5.
Earlier, it was also reported that the PlayStation VR 2 or the PS VR2 may be announced alongside the PlayStation 5. The PS VR2 is expected to come with 2560 x 1440-pixel resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 220 field of view, eye tracking, wireless capabilities, battery life of up to 4-5 hours, integrated headphones, no breaker box and a larger focus on VR for the AAA titles. It has also been reported that the PlayStation VR 2 might be priced at $250 (approximately Rs 17,350). But it should be noted that the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation VR2 are still a year away from their official launch. And since Sony hasn’t said anything about the upcoming gaming console or its titles, the news should be taken with a bucket of salt.
Google has been in news for its upcoming ‘affordable’ Pixel smartphones – the Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL. The details about both the devices have been leaked multiple times the past month and even Google’s own website leaked about the upcoming Pixel smartphone. And now, the Google Store page has a new teaser that reads, “Something big is coming to the Pixel universe”. The teaser from Google comes a month before its I/O 2019 keynote which is scheduled for May 7. Although not mentioned on the website, but the teaser could be hinting about the Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL.
The Google Store’s page also includes the tagline “help is on the way” including the Avengers logo, which shows the tie-up between Marvel Studios and Google. The video on the Google Store page shows some footage from Avengers: Infinity War along with the trailer of Avengers: Endgame. Many Marvel characters will also be joining the line-up of the augmented reality ‘Playmojis’ which are exclusive to the Google Pixel devices.
The Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL will a more affordable version of Google’s original Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL. Both the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL are priced above Rs 55,000 and are high-end flagship devices. But with the Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL, Google is aiming to offer its consumers something more affordable which still holds the Google brand on its back.
It should be noted that both the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL were launched last year and are touted to have the best camera that has been seen on any smartphone till date. But is should also be noted the cameras were a specialty and a strong point of most of the Pixel devices. And Google will be bringing the same level of camera performance to its upcoming Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL smartphones as well.
The lower price of the Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL will be seen on its build quality, performance and overall look and feel. The primary reason for this is that Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL will come with plastic or poly-carbonate back panel instead of the glass back panel the original Pixel 3 series uses. Their processors will also reportedly have reduced power which justifies its price point. The screen resolution of the new Pixel 3a series will also be lower than their flagship counterparts.
More details about the phone will be made available once the Google I/O 2019 keynote kicks off next month.
South Korean technology giant Samsung has launched its Galaxy A2 Core smartphone in India. The Samsung Galaxy A2 Core smartphone is an entry-level offering from the company that is aimed at first-time smartphone users and runs Android Pie (Go Edition). The handset is the successor of Samsung Galaxy J2 Core that the company launched in August 2018.
The newly launched smartphone by Samsung features a 5-inch qHD display and is powered by an Exynos processor clubbed with 1GB of RAM. Here are all the details Samsung Galaxy A2 Core launch that you should know about:
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Samsung Galaxy A2 Core price in India
According to IANS, Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Samsung India, Samsung Galaxy A2 Core is priced in India at Rs 5,290. The smartphone can now be bought via offline channels, according to renowned retailer Mahesh Telecom. However, as of now, there is no word from Samsung India about when the handset will be available via online channels in the country.
Coming to the specifications of the entry-level Samsung Galaxy A2 Core smartphone, according to an image that was shared by Mahesh Telecom, the device features a 5-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) display and is powered by an octa-core Exynos 7870 processor. The newly-launched smartphone comes with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. As we mentioned earlier, the handset runs Android Pie (Go Edition) and houses a 2,600mAh battery.
For imaging duties, Samsung’s new offering has a 5MP primary camera on its back panel as well as a 5MP sensor on its front panel for selfies and video calls.
The connectivity options of the Galaxy A2 Core handset were not mentioned by Mahesh Telecom. However, according to a leak that surfaced online last month, the device comes with include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, FM radio, Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The dimensions of the dveice have been said to be 141.6x71x9.1mm and the device weighs 142 grams.
Since the smartphone comes with Android Pie (Go Edition), it will come pre-installed with a number of apps that are optimised for Android Go like Google Assistant Go and Maps Go. Another leak mentions that Samsung has launched the device in Blue and Black colour options.
In addition to this, a leaked user manual has also revealed that Samsung Galaxy A2 Core will be made available by the company in a single-SIM as well as a dual-SIM variant. However, it is not clear as of now which one among the two is available in the Indian smartphone market.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K has received an update that has got the ability of screen mirroring to it. The company has claimed that it has been one of the most requested features that the customers wanted. It is worth mentioning that the feature was already present on the Amazon Fire TV Stick with the All New Alexa remote, and the company has now made it available to users of the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K.
The feature would automatically become active once the users install the update. In order to use the new screen mirroring feature, users of Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K will have to press and hold the Home button on the Alexa Voice Remote and then choose the option of mirroring. The company has said that the Fire TV Stick will be able to detect the devices that are compatible with it within 30 feet. Once it does this, the user can press on any button on the remote to start screen mirroring.
Amazon has also specified that its Fire TV Stick 4K is compatible with devices running Android 4.2 or higher versions and Fire tablets that are either third-generation or higher.
The company had launched the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K in India in October last year. Speaking on the new update that the device has got, Parag Gupta, Head – Amazon Devices, India, said, “We are always listening to our customers and excited to add features that allow them to enjoy their favourite content on Fire TV. Screen mirroring on Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K brings content from more devices into their living rooms on large screens.”
The company has also added that with the Fire TV, customer can enjoy their favourites from Prime Video, Hotstar, Netflix, Sony LIV, Zee5, Voot and others. Customers can also use websites like YouTube, Facebook and Reddi and listen to songs, playlists, live radio stations, and podcasts through services like Amazon Prime Music, Saavn, Gaana and TuneIn.
Earlier this month, Amazon launched three devices in India – the Amazon Echo Show, the Echo Link, and the Echo Link Amp. The Amazon Echo Show is basically a smart display that comes with the company’s voice assistant Alexa built-in. On the other hand, the other two devices can be integrated with the users’ existing home audio setup to bring Alexa and music streaming to high-end audio players.
Amazon Echo Show bears a price tag of Rs 22,999 in India, while the Echo Link can be bought at Rs 19,999 and the Echo Link Amp can be picked up at Rs 29,999.
Huawei’s sub-brand Honor has revealed that it will be launching its 20 series on May 21. The Honor 20 series is all set to be unveiled globally at an event in London that is scheduled for next month. It is worth mentioning that the first smartphone that will be launched in the series is Honor 20i, which will also be launching in China on April 17.
Chinese smartphone brand Huawei and its sub-brand Honor have already first launched their devices in China and then rolled them out globally a month later a few times. So, it is not a move that is not expected of them.
As of now, very little is known about the upcoming Honor 20i smartphone, however, the company has shared some teasers that shed light on the resolution of its selfie camera. According to a report in the IANS, the company has said that it will be launching a few industry-first smartphones across different price-ranges. The devices will also be launched in India after the global launch. Honor took to Twitter to announce the launch date of its upcoming series.
Honor 20 series will be succeeding the Honor 10 series and it is expected to come with Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro, Honor 20i, Honor 20A, Honor 20C, and Honor 20X. However, this is just a speculation keeping in mind the Honor 10 series launches.
It has also been said that the Honor 20 will be the flagship smartphone of the company and will come with the HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC. Reports also suggest that the smartphone will come with a triple rear camera setup that will comprise of a 48MP primary sensor, a 20MP secondary sensor, and a third 8MP sensor. Other specifications include Android 9.0 Pie, a 32MP selfie camera and a 3,650mAh battery.
Details about Honor 20 Pro have also been leaked recently and the smartphone is said to feature a 6.1-inch OLED display, an in-display fingerprint sensor and be powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC. The device will be available in three RAM/storage configurations — 6GB/ 128GB, 8GB/ 128GB, and 8GB/ 256GB. The smartphone is said to have the same triple camera setup at the back and the same selfie camera as the Honor 20. Other features will include Gaming+, Link Turbo, CPU, and GPU Turbo.
Coming to Honor 20i, it is all set to launch on Wednesday and the company has teased a 32MP AI selfie camera and a waterdrop-shaped display notch. The smartphone is rumoured to come with a 6.2-inch full-HD+ display, be powered by a HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC clubbed with 4GB/6GB RAM options, have 64GB/128GB of storage options and house a 3,400mAh battery.
Paytm Money is undoubtedly among the largest online platforms in India for mutual fund investments and as the name suggests, it is an owned subsidiary of One97 Communications Limited.
Paytm Money has today announced the launch of the web and mobile web version of its platform that is aimed at assisting users to discover and research about mutual funds. Other than this, the platform will also simplify investments.
Paytm Money has over 1 million people making use of its web platform every month and with this new service, it wants to cater to the needs of investment research and discovery of users who want to invest in mutual funds.
Users will be able to invest via Android as well as iOS apps of Paytm Money for now and soon, the same service will come to the web platform too.
The Paytm Money platform is touted to provide the most comprehensive data about Mutual Funds to its users. And this includes all the schemes, latest NAVs, fund manager profiles, riskometers, benchmarks, portfolio holdings, sector exposure, scheme exit loads, ratings and more such information in order to help users take an informed investment decision.
With the launch, the company has extended all this information for the ease of the users of its web and mobile platforms.
According to Pravin Jadhav, Whole-time Director of Paytm Money, “Many of our users had requested for the availability of Paytm Money on web & mobile web platforms for research & discovery of Mutual Funds, this launch is aimed towards serving our investors on platforms of their choice. In the next phase, we also plan to introduce the ability to invest, manage investments & portfolio and advisory products as well on web.”
In addition to this, the company has also extended some popular features like Search, Best Rated Mutual Funds, AMC and Fund Manager discovery through the web platform. According to the company, since its launch, Paytm Money has witnessed over 1 million users making it the largest commission-free platform for mutual fund investments in India.
Recently, Paytm Money also announced that they have received SEBI approval for stock broking. The company is fast innovating its offerings with the introduction of Advisory Recommended Investment Packs, which is basically a curated portfolio of mutual funds, based on the research conducted by their in-house advisory team. They have also launched a single flow for faster payment of multiple SIPs on the same day.
Samsung has today announced that its Galaxy A70 smartphone will be launched in India next week, while Galaxy A80 will arrive in May. The South Korean technology giant has also revealed the price of smartphones in India. The company is targetting $4 billion (approximately Rs 27,700 crores) in revenue from its Galaxy A series during this year, according to a top official from the company.
Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Samsung India said to IANS, “We will launch the Galaxy A70 in India next week in the Rs 25,000 – Rs 30,000 bracket and the Galaxy A80 in the Rs 45,000 – Rs 50,000 bracket in May.”
Samsung Galaxy A70 features a 6.7-inch Infinity U display, houses a 4,500mAh battery that has support for 25W Super-Charging fast charging technology and sports a triple rear camera setup.
Samsung Galaxy A80, on the other hand, has a rotating triple camera setup and is the first device from the company to come with a full-screen display.
Considering that Samsun is facing stiff competition from Chinese smartphone players in India, it has decided to price its Galaxy A series of smartphones in India between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000.
Speaking further about the range, Singh said, “We are targeting $4 billion from the Galaxy A series over the calendar year. Just in the first 40 days starting March 1, we have sold a total of two million units of three Galaxy ‘A’ models in India — A50, A30, and A10. The revenue turnover from these three phones in 40 days is $500 million. I think this is a record for any brand in the industry. When the rest of the portfolio in the Galaxy A-series becomes available we are sure of not only achieving but exceeding our target.”
Singh also added that Galaxy A series of smartphones will remain available across online as well as offline channels.
The company had previously said that it would be launching at least one Galaxy A series smartphone every month from March to June this year.
Singh also told IANS that Samsung keeps on evolving its portfolio according to what a consumer wants. He said, “The portfolio is ever-evolving with the consumer. To hit $4 billion revenue I will have to look at every opportunity. We will come up with the right opportunity for the range you are referring to (the Rs 30,000-Rs 45,000 segment). Just because we have not announced the Galaxy A-series phone in this range in India, does not mean we are not working on it. We are going to ship out Galaxy A2 core this week at Rs. 5,290. This is going to be a tremendous boost to people who want to switch from feature phones to smartphones. This is going to be huge in terms of volume.”
Update: Samsung Galaxy A70 has now launched in India. Read more about its pricing and specifications here.
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic has today launched its first full-frame mirrorless LUMIX S series in India. As a part of the series, the company has launched two camera models in India – LUMIX S1 and LUMIX S1R. While Panasonic LUMIX S1 costs Rs 1,99,990 and comes with a 24-105mm F4 lens, the LUMIX S1R costs Rs 2,99,990 (body only) and Rs 3,67,990 if you buy the 24-105mm F4 lens along with it.
While the Panasonic LUMIX S1 comes with a come with 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor, the LUMIX S1R camera has a 47.3MP full-frame CMOS sensor. Both the cameras are based on L-Mount standard, and according to the company, this means that the camera has an uncompromised imaging experience.
Speaking about the newly-launched cameras, Panasonic India’s Business Chief, Sandeep Sehgal said, “The new LUMIX S series boasts intuitive control, a rugged design for heavy-field use, durability and expandability, and is suitable for professional photography and videography. The LUMIX S Series showcases our commitment to India and we are extremely confident to achieve double-digit market share in the next two years.”
The company has claimed that Panasonic LUMIX S Series has an industry-leading video recording performance and an effective image stabilization. Furthermore, it is also supposed to give better results with rich gradation and superior colour reproduction.
Both the newly launched cameras offer a high-speed, high-precision AF system that is based on advanced control technology over the lens, the new ‘Venus Engine’ and the sensor. We should also point out that it is this that enables the user to capture the target in sharp focus using either of the two cameras.
Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia also spoke about the launch saying, “The imaging industry is a complex and demanding space and we have brought in defining changes by listening to our users and continuous investment in R&D to bring in industry-first technologies.”
The LUMIX S1R camera comes with a high-resolution mode and the company says that it is the first time that a mirrorless full-frame camera will be able to enable 187MP ultra-high precision picture with a pixel shift technology shooting.
The last few months have seen a number of launches from Panasonic but it has been quite a while since the company launched mirrorless cameras. Prior to this, the Japanese company was seen launching air conditioners in the country and other than that, it also expanded its Eluga range of smartphones.
Outages are becoming just as common for Facebook as data breaches. The social media giant, on Sunday, suffered its third major outage of this year and it left users all across the globe without access of its network. In fact, the outage, much like the previous one that the social media giant suffered, affected Facebook as well as its other services including Instagram and WhatsApp.
Facebook and Instagram were inaccessible again for several hours on Sunday and users could not refresh either of the two platforms. On the other hand, messages were not getting delivered on WhatsApp and Facebook’s Messenger app.
According to Downdetector, a website that tracks outages on various websites and platforms, Facebook was down starting Sunday at 6.30 am EDT, which is basically 4 pm IST. The outage primarily affected users in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
In an email that Facebook sent acknowledging the issue, a spokesperson said, “Earlier today, some people may have experienced trouble connecting to the family of apps. The issue has since been resolved; we’re sorry for any inconvenience.”
The outage continued for three hours and the services were only restored at 9.30 am in New York, which means 7 pm IST. However, it was long enough for users to take to Twitter to express what they felt about yet another outage on Facebook.
To recall, the first major outage that the company faced was in January when photo-sharing app Instagram crashed and WhatsApp users all across the world could not send or receive messages on the app. Following this, in March, Facebook suffered its most severe outage. The outage affected users across the globe and they couldn’t access Facebook and Instagram for a good 12 hours.
According to DownDetector, the Facebook and Instagram outages last month were spread across New England, Texas, Seattle, Washington, parts of Latin America, Peru, the UK, India, and the Philippines. However, media reports suggested that users in Canada, Las Vegas, and Turkey faced issues too.
In fact, in the last outage, WhatsApp and Messenger apps were also affected in various parts of the world and some users complained about not being able to use Oculus VR too. A number of users also took to social media to say that they couldn’t login to apps like Tinder using the social networking website.
And less than a month later, another outage affecting so many Facebook services happened again, however, luckily this time, it didn’t last for a month.
This March was a happening month for Apple fans as the company upgraded a number of its products including AirPods, iPads and iMacs. Last week, the Cupertino-based technology giant made the newly launched iPad Air (2019) and iPad Mini 2019 available for purchase in India. And now, the company has made the new iMacs available in the country.
The two upgraded iMacs were launched by Apple last month and they come with 21.5-inch and 27-inch display sizes and have new processors and graphics cards. With the update, the Cupertino based technology company has promised a ‘2x performance boost’ on the new iMacs
Let’s talk about the smaller sibling first. The upgraded device that comes with a 21.5-inch display size is powered by a 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 or 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 processor and has a Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz.
Other than this, the device has 8GB of RAM and comes with 1TB (5400-rpm) of hard drive or 1TB Fusion Drive. The 21.5-inch device comes with a Radeon Pro 555X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory or Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. The iMac has a 21.5-inch LED-backlit Retina 4K display. Other features of the 21.5-inch iMac include four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2, Gigabit Ethernet, FaceTime HD camera, and macOS Mojave. We should also mention that the new iMac comes with a Magic Keyboard and has a Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2.
Speaking of the 27-inch model of the new device from Apple, it is powered by 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 or 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 processor and has a Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz. The upgraded iMac has 8GB of RAM and 1TB or 2TB Fusion Drive. It clubs Radeon Pro 570X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, Radeon Pro 575X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, and Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory.
The new iMac has 27-inch LED-backlit Retina 5K display. Other features of the new iMac include four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2, and support for FaceTime HD camera. The device runs macOS Mojave and comes with Magic Keyboard and has Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2.
Coming to the pricing of the two iMacs in India, the 21.5-inch device will cost Rs 1,19,900, while the bigger sibling with 27-inch screen bears a price tag of Rs 1,69,900.
Motorola launched its Moto G7 lineup in Brazil in February this year. The range comes with four smartphones including Moto G7, Moto G7 Plus, Moto G7 Power and Moto G7 Play. However, till now, only two have made their way to India – Moto G7 Power and the recently launched Moto G7.
The latter comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC, 4GB of RAM, Android 9.0 Pie and a 3,000mAh battery. For a budget smartphone, these specifications seem to be powerful. However, do they actually perform well when they come together in the Moto G7? We spent a few days with the smartphone and here’s our review of the same:
In This Article
Design and Display
As far as the design of the smartphone goes, it is a big upgrade over last year’s Moto G6 handset. The device comes with an all-glass back panel, which gives it a very premium feel, and in this price segment, rarely do we get to see a smartphone that looks so good.
The front panel of the Moto G7 is dominated by its 6.2-inch display that has a U-shaped notch and is outlined with not-so-thin bezels on three sides. The chin is thicker than the bezels and it has the Motorola branding on it. The notch of the device is just big enough to house the selfie camera and doesn’t interfere with any notifications when they pop up on the screen.
The edges of the Moto G7 smartphone are made of plastic, unlike the back panel of the device. The right edge of the smartphone houses the volume rocker and power keys, while the 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grille and USB Type-C port are placed on the bottom edge. The SIM tray is placed on the top of the handset along with the secondary microphone.
The handset is curved at its edges, which is a factor that really helps in one-handed usage.
Coming to Moto G7’s back panel, as we mentioned earlier, it is made up of glass. The back panel is what truly adds a premium look and feel to the smartphone. There are only two things on Moto G7’s back – the dual rear camera setup of the device and the Moto dimple.
The dual rear cameras of Moto G7 are placed inside a circular module that also has an LED flash inside it. Although it protrudes out like the camera modules found on previous Moto smartphones, it doesn’t stick out as much as the earlier ones did. The Moto dimple that lies right below it houses the fingerprint scanner of the smartphone. There’s one thing that we should mention though: The back panel is prone to getting fingerprint smudges, much like any other smartphone with a glass back. However, it is very easy to get rid of them too. Just one wipe with a piece of cloth and you’ll see them all disappear.
It is also worth adding that Moto G7 comes with P2i coating, which makes it water resistant. This is definitely a plus, considering the price segment, as it would keep your device safe in case it is accidentally hit by a splash of water. However, if you drop it in a pool of water, the handset is likely to be damaged, as it just has P2i water repellent coating and not an IP rating.
In a nutshell, we would say that we really liked the design of the Moto G7 smartphone. It is very minimalistic and sleek. It’s not for you if you like your smartphone to be flashy though. Go for it if you like elegant and classy looking handsets.
Coming to the 6.2-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display of the smartphone, it comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The colours projected on the display of the smartphone seem to be a little soaked. We wouldn’t call the difference to be a massive one, but we did consistently notice a slight difference between colours projected on Moto G7’s display and the screens of other devices. However, they remain the same at different viewing angles, which is a big plus in our books.
The images and videos appeared to be absolutely clear on the screen and we did not notice any pixelation whatsoever. Also, we faced no problems while using the display under direct sunlight, and we consider this to be another big plus on any device.
Performance and Cameras
Before we start talking about the performance of Moto G7, we would take a minute to tell you its specifications. Powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC, the smartphone comes with 4GB of RAM. The handset holds 64GB of internal storage and can also support microSD card up to 512GB. The Moto G7 smartphone packs a 3,000mAh battery with 15W TurboPower fast charging support.
For imaging duties, the Moto G7 comes with dual-rear camera setup, which comprises of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture paired with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. On the front, there is an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture that can be used for selfies and video calls.
For software, Moto G7 comes with Android 9.0 Pie that the company has tweaked a bit, but mostly, it’s stock Android. The company has added a number of gestures to the smartphone. So you can touch the smartphone with three fingers to take a screenshot, navigate through your device using only one button, turn the Fast Torch on and off using two karate chop motions, twist your wrist two quickly to launch the camera app, flip the phone to activate DND and more.
Coming to the performance, Moto G7 can handle basic day to day tasks very well. However, it is not very great at super multi-tasking. When we tried using the device for navigation and games at the same time, it began to heat up, which is common amongst all smartphone with a glass back.
However, navigation via Google Maps alone on the device works without any hiccups. And so do most games – even the graphic hungry ones. The handset could handle even games like Asphalt 9: Legends well, which we think is great for a budget smartphone.
Speaking of the biometric security of Moto G7, the face unlock as well as the fingerprint sensor worked well during our time with it. The fingerprint scanner even recognised our finger when it was moist, and the face unlock continued to work in dimly lit conditions. However, stick to using the fingerprint scanner when you are in really dark areas.
The 3,000mAh battery of the handset left us with a bag of mixed emotions. The battery lasts an entire day with moderate usage and if your usage is heavy, you would have to charge it again by the evening. However, that should not be a problem because the smartphone has support for 15W TurboPower fast charging and it takes very less time to charge the device completely.
Coming to the cameras of the smartphone, their performance was not very consistent. The shots taken from the dual rear cameras during the day were overexposed and the colours were saturated.
Saying that the images clicked were sharp and clear. During the day, the quality of images remains good. However, the same cannot be said for night shots as they turned out to be grainy.
Probably with the next set of patches we would see this fixed. Also, you might want to use the flash when in low lit or dark areas.
Even the selfie camera of the smartphone works similarly. Most selfies we took with it turned out to be good, but again, the colours were slightly saturated.
Verdict
Moto G7 is a decent enough budget smartphone, and it comes with its own set of pros and some cons. You can buy it for its stunning looks, accurate biometric locks, good gaming performance and smooth UI experience. Some aspects of the device’s performance like its multi-tasking and cameras could have been better. At Rs 16,999, it is a good smartphone to buy, provided you know for which set of aspects you are buying it.
Software giant Microsoft has sent notifications to some users of Outlook.com saying that earlier this year, a hacker was able to access their accounts for months. The company discovered that the credentials of the support agent of its web mail service were compromised and this allowed hackers to access some of the accounts in between January 1, 2019 and March 28, 2019.
Microsoft has also added that besides having unauthorized access to some accounts, hackers could have also viewed account email addresses, folder names and subject lines of emails. However, hackers could not see the contents of the emails or attachments, according to the company.
As of now, it is not clear how many users have been affected because of this breach or who all were involved in obtaining access to email accounts on Outlook.com. In the email Microsoft sent to affected users, the company said, “Our data indicates that account-related information (but not the content of any e-mails) could have been viewed, but Microsoft has no indication why that information was viewed or how it may have been used.”
While the hackers were not able to steal login details or other personal details of these users, Microsoft has recommended all the affected users to reset their passwords. This is reasonable because practising basic online hygiene is absolutely necessary at the time of a data breach.
The security notification sent by the company says, “Microsoft regrets any inconvenience caused by this issue. Please be assured that Microsoft takes data protection very seriously and has engaged its internal security and privacy teams in the investigation and resolution of the issue, as well as additional hardening of systems and processes to prevent such recurrence.”
The security incident has surfaced just weeks after a former security researcher pled guilty of attacking Microsoft and Nintendo servers. In that particular case, the development servers of Microsoft Windows were breached for a few weeks in January 2017. This breach enabled hackers across Europe to access pre-release versions of Windows.
The software giant has confirmed the breach in a statement, however, it has not revealed the exact number of accounts on Outlook.com that have been affected because of it. Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to technology website The Verge, “We addressed this scheme, which affected a limited subset of consumer accounts, by disabling the compromised credentials and blocking the perpetrators’ access.”
HMD Global has quietly reduced the price of Nokia 7.1 in India today. The smartphone was launched in India in November last year and back then, it cost Rs 19,999. However, now its price on Nokia‘s eShop has been listed as Rs 17,999, reflecting a reduction of Rs 2,000 in cost. In addition to this, the smartphone’s listing on Flipkart and Amazon India also show the revised pricing of the handset.
The key highlights of the Nokia 7.1 smartphone include a PureDisplay with 19:9 aspect ratio and HDR support, Snapdragon 636 processor, dual rear camera setup with Zeiss optics and of course, its candy bar design. Here’s a look at the details of the discount on the Nokia 7.1 smartphone:
In This Article
Nokia 7.1 price in India
According to the update in the listing of the Nokia 7.1 smartphone on the official Nokia eShop, the handset is now available for purchase at Rs 17,999 in India. And as we mentioned earlier, Nokia 7.1 is also listed on Flipkart and Amazon India at the same price. At the time of its launch, the Nokia smartphone was priced at Rs 19,999.
As of now, there is no official statement from Nokia about the price cut, so we don’t know if it for a limited period or a permanent one.
Nokia 7.1 specifications
The Nokia 7.1 smartphone has support for dual SIM cards and runs Android 8.1 Oreo, which is soon expected to get an update to Android 9.0 Pie. The smartphone has a 5.84-inch full-HD+ PureDisplay panel that comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9. The screen of the device has support for HD10 and is protected with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, Nokia 7.1 comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The handset can also hold a microSD card of up to 400GB.
For imaging duties, the Nokia 7.1 smartphone comes with a dual rear camera setup that comprises of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture coupled with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/2.4 aperture.
The device comes with an 8MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree of field-of-view that can be used for selfies and video calls. Nokia 7.1 handset houses a 3,060mAh battery and comes with 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for connectivity. The sensors of the device include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and a fingerprint sensor that is placed on the smartphone’s back panel.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and FICCI Ladies Organisation have launched a new safety app for women called My Circle. The newly-launched app is aimed at helping women in the event of distress or a situation of emergency by sending an SOS alert to some pre-set contacts. The app can be installed by both Airtel and non-Airtel customers.
According to a statement by the company, “My Circle app enables women to send SOS alerts to any five of their family or friends in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bangla, Urdu, Assamese, Oriya, and Gujarati.”
In order to send the SOS alert, all the users have to do it press the SOS button on the app. Furthermore, users can also activate it via voice command to Siri. while as of now, this feature is only available on iOS, support for voice command with Google Assistant on Android devices too, according to the company.
The company also said, “It will instantly send an SOS alert along with the user’s location over SMS to the five contacts selected by the user and advise them to immediately reach out or respond to the emergency situation. The app operates by estimating the accurate location of the user which their family and friends can track in real time on a link that is sent as part of the alert SMS.”
The application is free to download and is available on the Google Play Store already and will shortly arrive on Apple’s App Store. Once you download the app, you need to register yourself on it. The app will verify users and will let them add five contacts who they want to reach out to at an hour of distress.
My Circle app has been designed by Airtel X labs and its concept was made by an all-women cross-functional team.
Speaking about the app, Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO and head of digital, Airtel said, “My Circle app is an effort by Airtel towards building a safer environment for women. We have leveraged the power of technology to empower women with a simple and intelligent tool that can respond in real time during an emergency situation.”
“My Circle app would act as a deterrent to crime against women, and would empower and make them more confident while travelling. Women are little vulnerable while travelling and when they board a taxi or an auto-rickshaw, they do not know if it is safe. This upgraded app will definitely empower them and boost their confidence while travelling,” said Ms Pinky Reddy, Immediate past President, FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).
Last week saw the launch of Huawei P30 Pro smartphone in India. The newly-launched flagship smartphone by Huawei comes with a triple rear camera setup that has support for 5X optical zoom, 10X hybrid zoom and 50X digital zoom. We should mention that this is the first time that a smartphone comes with this feature.
Other than this, Huawei P30 Pro handset packs a number of powerful specifications including a 4,200mAh battery, reverse wireless charging, and the most powerful processor by Huawei. The smartphone has finally gone on sale in India today. Here’s a look at all that you need to know about Huawei P30 Pro’s first sale in India:
In This Article
Huawei P30 Pro price, launch offers and sale
The Huawei P30 Pro smartphone is available in only one variant in India that comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The device is priced at Rs 71,990 and can be bought from Amazon India and Croma outlets. The smartphone has gone on its first sale on Amazon India today.
Huawei P30 Pro is available in Breathing Crystal and Aurora colour. The company is offering early birds an exclusive bundle with the Huawei Watch GT for Rs 2,000 extra (Total of Rs 73,990).
Customers can also avail exchange offers on the smartphone and will be able to get a comprehensive 6-month screen replacement worth Rs 20,000. Consumers will also be able to avail a cashback of up to Rs 1,500 on the P30 Pro. This offer will be valid between April 15th to September 21st, 2019. Amazon India is also offering no-cost EMI options on the purchase of the Huawei P30 Pro. Customers will also be able to get an instant discount of up to Rs 1,500 if they choose to buy the device on EMI using ICICI bank credit and debit card.
For after-sales service, Huawei India is offering free pick up and drop, expert support, no waiting exclusive service centres and dedicated relationship managers to offer real-time help and support to all P30 Pro buyers.
As a part of launch offers, Huawei has partnered with Reliance Jio to bring exciting offers to customers. Buyers will be able to get a cashback of Rs 2,200 in addition to a ‘Double Data’ recharge for first 5 recharges. Consumers will also be able to avail benefits worth Rs 7,800 (including Make My Trip Coupons worth Rs 5,600 & Zoom Car Voucher worth Rs 2,200) on the Huawei P30 Pro. As soon as a customer performs a recharge of Rs 198/299, 44 vouchers of Rs 50 each will be credited to his MyJio account.
Huawei P30 Pro specifications
The newly launched Huawei’s flagship smartphone runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with the company’s own EMUI 9.1. Huawei P30 Pro is powered by the company’s Kirin 980 SoC clubbed with 8GB of RAM and is available with 256GB of internal storage. The device sports a 6.47-inch full-HD+ OLED display and has curved edges and a waterdrop-shaped notch.
For imaging duties, Huawei P30 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup on its back panel. The device has a 40MP primary sensor with OIS and f/1.6 aperture, a 20MP wide-angle sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and OIS, an 8MP camera that is equipped with a periscope style zoom system and a ToF sensor.
The smartphone comes with support for HDR+ mode, 5X optical zoom, 10X hybrid zoom and 50X digital zoom. Huawei P30 Pro smartphone features a 32MP sensor that comes with AI HDR+ with selfies and video calls. The smartphone by Huawei houses a 4,200mAh battery and has support for reverse wireless charging.
Tinder, the location-based dating app has defeated Netflix to become the highest earning non-gaming application. This title was held by Netflix since 2016 but now Tinder has overtaken the video-streaming platform in the Q1 2019 revenues.
According to a study by the app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Tinder has grossed $260.7 million from Google Play Store and Apple App Store combined. While for Netflix, the revenues dropped 15 percent since last year and it totaled at $216.3 million. The revenue of Netflix dropped but Tinder’s total revenue increased by 42 percent which puts it in the lead.
Netflix’s revenue drop could be because of a number of things, one of which is a result of it refusing to pay the ‘Tax’ to Apple Inc. Netflix was supposed to pay about $853 million subscription revenue on the iOS which Netflix stopped paying the Cupertino-based tech firm since December 2018. Later, Netflix refused to join the Apple TV+, the Apple’s streaming service where it chose to stay independent.
But on the other hand, Tinder has grown at an incredible rate in emerging markets such as India where it holds the title of the top-grossing application on the Google Play Store. Tinder has another in-app paid service named Tinder Gold which lifts the restrictions set on the regular Tinder app. Although the app hasn’t shared its country-specific numbers but, there are more than 3 million subscribers to the Tinder Gold on the global scale. Out of the 3 million, 1.7 million subscribed to the Gold version in the year 2018 alone.
Other than Netflix and Tinder, some of the top-grossing applications includes the Tencent Video, iQIYI, YouTube, Kwai, LINE, LINE Manga, Pandora and Youku. Most of the apps listed here belong to the audio/video streaming service which shows the growing popularity of such apps among the users.
If we talk about the top-most fastest growing non-paid app then TikTok tops that list. And non-paid social media apps has the most downloads such as Whatsapp, Messenger, TikTok and Instagram. But the top five fastest growing apps are SHAREit, YouTube, LIKE Video, Netflix and Snapchat.
According to the Q1 2019, TikTok was the fastest-growing applications with 188 million users in the first quarter of the year. On this, the Sensor Tower said’ “This marked a year-over-year increase of 70 percent from Q1 2018, when 110 million users installed the hit app for the first time.” And seeing the popularity of the app in India the fact might not seem to be hard to believe. TikTok is used by users from towns to villages so it isn’t a surprise at all. There are 88.6 million Indian users who joined the social platform in the last three months. But the app also was asked to put on ban by the Madras High Court because it showed inappropriate content.
Are you planning to go on a vacation? Do make sure that you pick the right hotel or else you may have your information leaked. A Principal Threat Researcher at cybersecurity company Symantec, Candid Wueest, recently tested websites of 1,500 hotels in 54 countries to understand how many of these could potentially leak the personal data of guests staying at their property.
The results of the research were shocking. Wueest found out that around 67 percent or two in three of the websites that he studied inadvertently leaked the booking codes to other third-party websites. The information is also being shared with advertisers and analytics companies.
We should add here that the websites that Wueest tested included two-star hotels located in the countryside, as well as luxurious five-star resorts. Speaking about this, Wueest said, “Basically, I randomly chose locations where I would like to spend my vacation, then selected the top search engine results for hotels in those locations. Some hotel sites I tested are part of larger, well-known hotel chains, meaning my research for one hotel applies to other hotels in the chain.”
According to Wueest, a number of the websites that he studied disclosed personal data like full name, email, address, postal code mobile number, last four digits of credit card, card type, and expiration date and even the passport number. The leak of so much information is very shocking.
Wueest explained the matter in more detail saying, “More than half (57 percent) of the sites I tested send a confirmation email to customers with a direct access link to their booking. This is provided for the convenience of the customer, allowing them to simply click on the link and go straight to their reservation without having to log in.”
It is worth noticing that since the email requires a static link, HTTP POST web requests are not really an option. This basically means that the booking reference code and the email are passed as arguments in the URL itself. We should point out that on its own, this would not be an issue. However, a number of sites directly load additional content like advertisements on the same website.
This means that direct access is shared with other resources. At times it is done directly, however, at other times is it done indirectly through the referrer field in the HTTP request.
According to Wueest, his tests show that an average of 176 requests are generated per booking, although not all these requests contain the booking details. We must add here that going by the number, it can be concluded that the booking data could be shared quite widely.
Furthermore, it has also been revealed that the booking data is also available when the customer cancels the reservation. The research also indicates that hotel comparison websites and booking engines also leak customers’ data. Wueest said, “From the five services that I tested, two leaked the credentials and one sent the login link without encryption.”
The Swedish YouTuber Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg is still in the lead in his ongoing battle against the Indian music label making company to be the number 1 YouTube channel in the world. But on his way to become the number 1 channel, he said some racist things about India and the Indians in general. Pewdiepie’s two tracks where he is dissing T-series is full of racism and white supremacism. And on that account, the Delhi High Court has directed the YouTuber to remove his content (the two songs) from his channel.
When the Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg’s channel Pewdiepie started competing against T-series he released a video song named ‘Bitch Lasagna’ in which he dissed the label making company. The whole track is full of some racist things and him dissing the company. While the second song named ‘Congratulations’ was released when T-series overlapped Felix’s channel by over 50,000 subscribers. In his second video, the YouTuber went too far by saying some pretty racist things.
Although before the launch of the second song, the YouTuber’s loss was certain but later he was backed by two other YouTubers with millions of subscribers which put him back in the race. And now he has taken a lead over T-series to become the number 1 channel on YouTube. On that note, T-series’ CEO asked the Indians and the Indian YouTubers to support and back the record label company to reach the number 1 position. After that, the number of subscribers of the company grew but it couldn’t reach Pewdiepie’s level.
As noted by Bar&Bench, “The Delhi High Court has directed YouTube to remove two songs published by Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie from its platform. The interim order was granted by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Jayant Nath in a suit preferred by T-Series owner Super Cassettes Pvt Ltd., seeking to permanently restrain Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, from uploading the songs titled ‘T-Series Diss Track/Bitch Lasagna’ and ‘Congratulations’.”
After the Delhi High Court’s verdict, an obvious video was released by Pewdiepie. In his video, he said, “Imagine if YouTube complies with this Indian law and judgement and removes PewDiePie’s videos.” Even in the newly released video he mentioned some racist things about the country and its people. And knowing the fact that most of his fans are teenagers and young adults who wouldn’t mind hacking into someone’s computers and printers to ask them to subscribe to Pewdiepie’s channel it makes sense that no one would be offended by his videos (at least his fanbase).
Competing against a company is one thing but playing dirty and being a racist and a white supremist is another. Who wins or who loses doesn’t matter if they play fair but if they don’t maybe the platform, YouTube itself should take some strict action.
The next instalment in the GTA (Grand Theft Auto) series will be the GTA 6 but the thing is, it is still in development and not much is known about the game yet. Although according to some leaks and rumours online, the release date of GTA 6 is closer than we thought and it might see the light of the day soon. But is also comes with bad news for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One users.
The last instalment in the series was GTA 5 released in 2013, and when launched it was dubbed as one of the best games of the generation for its exceptional gameplay, graphics and storytelling. After GTA 5, the company focused its attention towards the Red Dead Redemption 2 game, which was also dubbed as one of the best games till now. After the release of RDR 2, no major titles had been released by the company Rockstar Games.
But, Rockstar Games never lets the content and the GTA 5 become boring as they keep on adding new content to its online version. According to a new rumour on Pastebin, some third-party developer in Europe was working on a new title for the upcoming PS5, and that title is the GTA 6.
According to the leaks, GTA 6 will be released in the holidays of 2020 and it is rumoured to be a PS5 exclusive title. This seems to be bad news for the users of the PS4 and the Xbox One as the game might not come to the said platforms. But it should also be noted that the game is still in development and since it is a rumour, it should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Keeping that aside, the rumours also mention that the GTA 6 will have two large cities for the players to play in – Miami and Liberty City. Earlier, there was also a rumour that the game would be returning to Vice City similar to GTA 5, which returned to Los Santos. If the rumours about the game are true then the players would surely feel rejoiced.
But it is yet to be seen if all the above will be seen in GTA 6 in 2020, as the RDR 2 was released last year itself and both of them are the biggest titles of the company.
The next major update to the Red Dead Online Beta is currently planned to arrive later this Spring, with a host of feature upgrades and new content.
Moreover, in 2020 we could also see the launch of two new gaming consoles – PS5 and the Xbox Two. But the said devices could also be launched this year itself as Microsoft is expected to launch the Xbox Two at the E3 this year and Sony too could hold a launch event for the PS5 this year itself. Hmm, seems like lot of things are churning in the rumour mill.
