Snapchat is now available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi

Photo-messaging app Instagram has announced today that it will now be available in four Indian languages. The social media company has said that it has localised the app experience for its Indian users. Starting today, Snapchat will be available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi. Besides these four languages, Snapchat will also be getting support for Filipino, Malay, Vietnamese, and Urdu.

We should add that the app has got support for these languages less than a month after Snapchat announced that it was found testing languages in the beta version of its app. It is worth mentioning that Snapchat’s updated iOS app will now come with support for new languages and will be available via the App Store. However, the update is expected to come soon to the Android version of the app too.

The launch of the photo-messaging app in local languages is one of the many steps that have been taken by Snap over the last few months to expand in India. However, we should point out that four years back, Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegal called India poor and said that Snapchat is “only for rich people.” After Spiegal’s statement, a major chunk of Indian population uninstalled the app and started using photo-sharing app Instagram instead. While Snapchat completely denied that the statement was ever made, ultimately what company lost in terms of users became Instagram‘s gain. In fact, back then, even ratings of the photo-messaging app on App Store suffered greatly.

A few months back, Snapchat also partnered with four Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. The company has teamed up with Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders to offer updates and behind the scenes highlights for its fans on the app. Other than this, the app also had some special lenses, filters, and stickers for IPL. Prior to that, the app also launched some Holi-themed filters, stickers, and lenses for users in India. For International Women’s Day, the company also partnered with six female artists from the country and created sticker, filters and bitmojis especially for the day.

Other than this, last year, Snapchat had also introduced a local version of Discover for India, under which people could find a curated list of vertical-format video stories from publishers and creators. To get content that interests Indian users, Snap also tied up with the likes of Brut, The Logical Indian, Pocket Aces, The Viral Fever, QYOU, Saavn and MissMalini.

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Samsung to bring K-drama and K-pop content for Indian users via its My Galaxy app

South Korean technology giant Samsung has decided to bring the famous K-Pop content and K-Drama for Indian consumers on its My Galaxy App. The new upcoming K-dramas will include three exclusive K-drama series along with over 750 K-pop videos of the top artists and bands such as BTS, Exo, BTOB, MONSTA-X and many others.

Samsung is offering the new shows and music as a part of its commitment to offer and enrich the consumer experience of its users. Samsung’s My Galaxy app is a one-stop platform of the South Korean tech giant for shows, music and many other things.

Pramod Mundra, Senior Director of Samsung India commented on the growing trend of Korean content consumption amongst Indian millennials saying, “We value the interests and taste of our consumers and there is absolutely no doubt about the growing popularity of K-pop culture in India. Keeping in mind the evolving entertainment needs of Indian millennials, we are delighted to bring K-content on our ‘My Galaxy’ App. Samsung customers can now access K-pop music and exclusive K-drama on their favourite Samsung smartphone. We are confident that the famed K-content will resonate well with our young consumers.”

Samsung will be giving its users some of the exclusive Korean dramas like Manhole, Jugglers etc on its My Galaxy app. To bring the shows and dramas, Samsung is partnering with KBS Media, which is Korea’s largest global content distribution companies and it is actively licensing international as well as domestic rights of content. KBS Media also distribute VOD content and imports and debugs foreign programs. Also, KBS Media is part of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), which is the national public broadcaster of South Korea.

The Korean content coming to Samsung’s My Galaxy app are:

Jugglers – It is one of the famous Korean rom-com drama out of the three exclusives being offered by Samsung. It shows the story of the equation between a secretary and her boss and how it completely flips outside office.

Queen for 7 days – This is another exclusive that will be offered by Samsung to users in India. This historic drama is about a queen who sits on the throne for seven days and her love story with King LeeYeok and Lee Yung.

Manhole – The third exclusive being offered by Samsung is Manhole. This Korean drama shows the story of Pil who travels back in time to stop his crush of 28 years from getting married.

K-Pop – Along with exclusive K-dramas, Samsung is also offering more than 750 songs and over 45 hours of content. Some of the famous bands and artist which are included in this are – BTS, EXO, BTOB, MONSTA-X.

To watch or listen to the K-dramas and K-pop the users need to download the ‘My Galaxy’ app from Google Play Store or from Samsung’s own App Store.

Samsung’s My Galaxy app has more than 20 million users in India and the company wishes to offer Korean content to the millennials across metro towns and Tier 1 cities.

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T-series loses its lead as the No.1 YouTube channel

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Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg’s PewDiePie was defeated by India’s T-series last week where the latter’s YouTube channel gained a lead of more than 50,000 subscribers making it the No.1 channel on the video platform. But that victory of T-series didn’t last long as PewDiePie has once again taken the lead from T-series. Today, PewDiePie became the biggest YouTube channel again after it surpassed T-Series by more than 1,50,000 subscribers.

After being defeated last week, PewDiePie’s channel was promoted by two YouTube channels – kwebblekop and Philip DeFranco – who already have a large number of subscribers. The promotion gave PewDiePie the push he needed to defeat T-series and now they stand with a difference of more than 1,50,000 subscribers. This is not the first time the win-lose game between the two biggest YouTube channels had been played. We should mention that T-series has defeated PewDiePie many times in the past to become number 1 channel on YouTube. But PewDiePie and his followers find a way to surpass T-Series, even if that means buying billboards, hacking printers or getting slots on TV. The battle between the two channels has been going on for more than seven months now.

Last week, when PewDiePie was defeated and he didn’t take being the No. 2 very well. He actually made a video ‘congratulating’ T-series and posted it on YouTube. However, he was actually being sarcastic and telling it took a “corporate with every Bollywood son” to defeat him, conveniently not mentioning his prior association with Disney, which is also a corporate. He didn’t stop at taking digs at the record label, but went ahead and took jabs at Indians as well in his video by talking about ‘India’s broken caste system’ and ‘crippling poverty.’

It is not the first time PewDiePie has been supported by other YouTubers and YouTube channels. Many channels came to support PewDiePie so that an individual would become the No. 1 channel on YouTube rather than a corporate – T-series. In the past, to increase PewDiePie’s subscribers hacking was also used where ‘someone’ hacked printers worldwide and urged the people to subscribe to PewDiePie.

According to the data from Social Blade, T-series surpassed PewDiePie over 120 times since the battle however, the YouTuber found a way to make a comeback every time, even though he claims that he doesn’t care about T-Series or numbers in general. The last lead T-series had over PewDiePie was in March where it had gained a lead of more than 50,000 subscribers.

Till now, T-series chairman Bhushan Kumar had stayed away from the battle and all the controversy going on between the two channels. But last month he too came forward and asked the Indian YouTubers to support the channel and make India win’.

Bhushan Kumar on his Twitter handle wrote, “We’re on the brink of becoming the world’s biggest @YouTube channel. We can make history.”

With the battle reaching new heights, it is yet to be seen which of the two will become not the winners but be first to reach 1 billion YouTube subscribers as both the channels have more than 90 million subscribers.

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MG Motor unveils India’s first internet car, The Hector

MG Motor India Pvt Ltd has announced that it is all set to launch the country’s first ever connected car that will be called ‘The Hector’. The company has also added that the car will be available for sales by June this year. MG Motor’s upcoming Hector is expected to cost between Rs 17-20 lakh.

The Hector is powered by iSMART technology from MG Motor, that comes with an embedded connectivity solution, navigation services and has support for a voice assistant. It also has pre-loaded infotainment content, emergency services, and some pre-installed apps.

According to Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director of MG Motor India, The Hector is the only car in the world to come with support for Over-The-Air (OTA) updates. He further said that the car will come with several ‘industry-first’ features that are specifically meant for Internet-enabled cars.

Much like Tesla, The Hector will come with a 10.4-inch head unit that will be a touch screen that is the biggest in the Indian automobiles market yet. It is worth adding that the display will come with a vertical interface that will enable the driver to control the entire car system with just a voice command ot just a few taps. For entertainment, the car will come with pre-loaded content that will include some videos, Gaana app and Accuweather.

To ensure that the car remains connected, this unit also comes with an embedded machine to machine (M2M) SIM. It is worth adding that the customized solution has been developed by Unlimit in partnership with Cisco and Airtel.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the connectivity mobility on The Hector – Internet Protocol Version 6 – which has support for 5G connectivity. With this, customers will be able to download the OTA software updates without any delay. However, there will also be options of scheduling them for later, much as we do in smartphones.

Chaba also added, “With an embedded SIM card and OTA, the MG Hector promises to do a lot more over time with constantly-expanding capabilities, to create a seamless driving experience, throughout the life of the car. Furthermore, with the advent of 5G connectivity in India, MG cars will have the potential to add new, breakthrough features to further enrich the car driving experience.”

The car also has support for an AI-based voice assistant that works on the cloud. The assistant is developed by Nuance for MG India and it has been designed particularly for Indian accent. We must add that with AI and Machine Learning, the systems in the car will get better with usage.  We should also mention that another feature of the car is a pre-embedded navigation app from TomTom.

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Nokia 8110 4G ‘Banana’ phone finally gets the WhatsApp support: HMD Global

HMD Global has announced that Nokia’s Banana phone – Nokia 8110 4G –now has support for WhatsApp in India. Due to the device’s banana-like curve it is popularly known as ‘Banana phone’. The users of the Nokia 8110 4G can download the WhatsApp app from the Nokia Store and use it on the feature phone by registering their number just like they do while using the app on a smartphone. The device runs on KaiOS, much like its rival JioPhone 2 which has had support for WhatsApp since its launch last year. HMD Global also said that India is the first country to get the WhatsApp support on the Nokia 8110 4G.

The Nokia 8110 4G was launched by the company at the MWC 2018 and it was made available in India in October 2018. The device comes with a new edition of the classic Snake game preloaded. Previously, Nokia 8110 4G was supposed to get the support for WhatsApp via an update.

Ajey Mehta, Vice President and Country Head of India, HMD Global, said in a statement, “We’re so happy that our fans in India will get WhatsApp on Nokia 8110 first anywhere in the world. The Nokia 8110 is a phone for ‘the originals’ and I hope along with adding to the style quotient, this new addition of WhatsApp to the already existing bouquet of apps on Nokia 8110 will make it the ideal choice for our fans.”

Nokia 8110 4G specifications, price and features

The Nokia 8110 4G holds a price tag of Rs 5,999 and it can be purchased via online as well offline Nokia partner retailers. The phone is also available to purchase on Nokia’s official website.

The Nokia 8110 4G comes in two colour variants – Banana Yellow and Traditional Black.

Coming to the specifications, the Nokia 8110 4G sports a 2.45-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) curved screen. It is powered by a 1.1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 205 SoC paired with 512MB of LPDDR3 RAM along with 4GB of storage. The Nokia 8110 4G supports dual-SIM (Micro + Nano) cards and it comes without a microSD card slot. The feature phone packs a 1,500mAh battery and Nokia claims that it can give up to 9.32 hours of talk-time on VoLTE, and 25 days of 4G LTE standby time.

On the camera front, Nokia 8110 4G comes with 2MP rear camera accompanied with an LED flash while there is no front camera on the device. Other features of the Nokia 8110 4G includes 4G VoLTE with hotspot, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS/ A-GPS, FM radio, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The device also has an IP52 drip protection.

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Nokia X71 with hole-punch selfie camera launched: Price and specifications

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HMD Global has today launched its Nokia X71 smartphone in Taiwan, along with unveiling Nokia 9 PureView in the market. The Nokia X71 is the first smartphone by the company to come with a hole-punch display that houses the selfie camera.

The key highlight so the Nokia X71 include its hole-punch selfie camera, a triple rear camera setup with a 48MP primary sensor, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, a Snapdragon 660 processor and a 3,500mAh battery. The Nokia X71 smartphone comes with Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box. Here’s a look at the pricing details and specifications of the newly launched smartphone:

Nokia X71 price and availability

Nokia X71 smartphone is priced at TWD 11,900, which is roughly Rs 26,600. The handset will be available in Taiwan starting April 30. However, there is no word on the smartphone’s arrival in other regions including India. The Nokia X71 smartphone is only available in a single Eclipse Black colour option.

Nokia X71 specifications

Coming to the specifications of the Nokia X71 smartphone, it comes with a 2.5D double-sided glass and a vertically stacked triple rear camera setup and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner that is placed beneath the cameras of the device. On the front panel, the selfie camera of the Nokia X71 smartphone is situated on the top left of the handset. The volume and power buttons are placed on the right edge of the device and the power button also alerts users for missed calls and it sends notifications for messages. The Nokia X71 also has a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The handset runs Android 9.0 Pie and features a 6.39-inch full-HD+ full-screen display that has an aspect ratio of 19.3:9, a brightness of 500 nits and 96 percent wide colour gamut. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 processor clubbed with 6GB of RAM, the Nokia X71 smartphone comes with 128GB of storage and can hold a microSD card of up to 256GB.

For imaging duties, the smartphone has a triple rear camera setup that comprises of a 48MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, a 5Mp depth of field sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and an 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor. For selfies and video calls, there is a 16MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture.

The Nokia X71 handset houses a 3,500mAh battery that has support for 18W fast charging and its connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS, USB Type-C, USB OTG, and 3.5mm audio jack.

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Adcom Luminosa with ‘unique LED lights’ launched in India: Price and specifications

Indian technology brand Adcom has today launched its Luminosa headphones in India today. The company claims that the newly launched Adcom Luminosa is “one of a kind” and it can be used wirelessly, and has a ‘unique LED’.

Adcom Luminosa is described as a ‘Wireless Bluetooth LED Over-Ear Foldable Headset’ and is claimed to provide users with a brilliant listening experience or users. The newly launched headset comes with a built-in Mic, LEDs with an On/Off Control along with features for Deep Bass and Passive Noise Cancellation. Furthermore, Adcom Luminosa is compatible with all smartphones from iOS and Android.

The headset is priced at Rs 1,490 and is available at Amazon India’s website, Flipkart and the company’s online store. Adcom Luminosa can be picked up only in a Black coloured variant that comes with LED lights on it. If you buy the headphones via the company’s website, you will get an additional 10% discount on it if you use the coupon ‘Press10’. Adcom is also providing a 1-year replacement warranty if the product encounters any manufacturing defects.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu8i7QLzAfWmef2cZ5hWsNQ/videos

Here’s a look at the features of the newly launched Adcom Luminosa headset:

  • Design and comfort: The headset is said to have a lightweight design coupled with a self-adjusting headband & 180º folding system that has leather padded cushion and headband. The company claims that all of this ensures that the headphones are comfortable to use.
  • Adcom Luminosa has LED lights with an On/Off Control on the ear-cups, which make the wearer stand out. The headset comes with an advanced Bluetooth v4.2 technology that allows faster pairing with all Android, iOS, and Windows devices. The wireless operating range of the headset is up to 20 meters
  • Passive Noise Cancellation with Deep Bass is another feature of the newly launched Adcom wireless headphones.
  • Multifunctional Tactile Buttons with the option of Wireless or Wired usage: These can be used for music playback and answer calls by pressing the multifunction tactile buttons. Luminosa can also be connected via an AUX cable, which is claimed to work even when there is no charge left in the headphone.
  • Battery life: The headset has a 400mAh lithium-ion polymer battery that can survive up to 7 hours of continuous talk/play time, 2 hours of charging time and 600 hours of standby time. Other than this, the Adcom Luminosa also has an in-built HD sensitive microphone and is sweat-proof and sports friendly.

Speaking on the launch Sahib Bhatia, Brand Manager, Adcom India said, “At Adcom, it is our endeavour to bestow our customers with innovative products that are technologically advanced, premium quality, yet available at affordable price points. Indian youth today is on a constant lookout for music on the go at costs that are easy on their pocket. We are proud to introduce the Adcom Luminosa headset for them. Through the best sound possible, we want to fully convey the creator’s intent, and provide the ultimate listening experience to users with the Adcom Luminosa. It is ergonomically designed to enable comfort with a foldable structure and over-ear design. We further hope to bring forth more such new and innovative products in the near future.”

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Lok Sabha Elections 2019: WhatsApp launches ‘Checkpoint Tipline’ in India to counter the spread of fake news

Facebook-owned instant messaging service WhatsApp has announced its ‘Checkpoint Tipline’ feature on Tuesday. This feature allows the users to check the authenticity of the information they received, the new feature by WhatsApp comes weeks ahead of the India’s general election to counter the spread of fake news.

Checkpoint Tipline was launched by Proto, an Indian based media skilling start-up. With the new feature, users in India can submit the misinformation and fake news they received to the Checkpoint Tipline on WhatsApp to +91-9643-000-888.

Once the information is shared, the suspicious message will be verified by Proto’s verification centre. Once verified, the verification center will inform the user if the news is a fake or not. The verification centre can review the content sent to it – images, video links or text. The verification centre is able to verify content of four languages – Hindi, Telgu, Bengali and Malayalam.

In a statement, WhatsApp said, “Launched by Proto, an India-based media skilling start-up, this tipline will help create a database of rumours to study misinformation during elections for Checkpoint – a research project commissioned and technically assisted by WhatsApp. The response will indicate if information is classified as true, false, misleading, disputed or out of scope and include any other related information that is available.”

Proto will also be working with other organisations to look into the information and check if the shared information is true or a piece of misinformation. The information checking initiative came after the platform faced criticism from the government when the spread of fake news claimed the lives of many individuals in mob-lynching last year.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: WhatsApp launches ‘Checkpoint Tipline’ in India to counter the spread of fake news

So, to stop the spread of fake news on its platform, WhatsApp is taking various steps before the elections. WhatsApp is also putting ads on TV, papers and online to stop believing the information the users received until it is from a verified source.

On Tuesday, WhatsApp said Dig Deeper Media and Meedan, which previously worked on misinformation-related projects around the world are helping Proto to develop the verification and research frameworks for India. This will make countering the fake news easier. Meedan has also developed the technology to support the verification of rumours which are spread on the platform. And it will also maintain the database of such content that have been processed. For doing this, they have expanded their check platform and then integrated it with the WhatsApp Business API, so that they receive and respond to messages at scale.

Ritvvij Parrikh and Nasr ul Hadi, Founder of Proto said, “The goal of this project is to study the misinformation phenomenon at scale — natively in WhatsApp. As more data flows in, we will be able to identify the most susceptible or affected issues, locations, languages, regions, and more.”

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Netflix guide for April 2019: Everything that’s new

It’s a story that gets repeated on every weekend. We make plans, and then we cancel them to sit at home and watch Netflix instead. The video streaming service has garnered tremendous popularity and most users don’t only prefer it over other video streaming services, but also over human company.

No, we are not even exaggerating this. If you are one among those who are always glued to Netflix, we are here with a guide that will help you this month. Here’s a list of all the shows and movies coming to and leaving Netflix this month. So you would know exactly when to tune in to catch the show you are waiting for before anyone else does. Take a look:

April 1

What’s coming to Netflix: Across the Line, All the President’s Men, Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Deliverance, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Evolution, Freddy vs. Jason, Friday the 13th (2009), I Am Legend, Lakeview Terrace, Monster House, Obsessed, Penelope, Pineapple Express, Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 2), P.S. I Love You, Snatch, Spy Kids, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D, The Bone Collector, The Fifth Element, The Golden Compass, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and Valkyrie.

What’s leaving Netflix:  American Pie, Billy Madison, Blue Mountain State (Seasons 1-3), Casino Royale, Diamonds Are Forever, Die Another Day, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Goldfinger, Happy Feet, Happy Gilmore, Heat, I Love You Man, L.A. Confidential, Live and Let Die, Luther, series 1-4, Octopussy, Pokémon: XY (Seasons 1-2), Seven, Sex and the City: The Movie, The Living Daylights, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, The World is Not Enough, Wallander, series 1-4 and You Only Live Twice.

April 2nd-5th

Kevin Hart Irresponsible

What’s coming to Netflix: Kevin Hart: Irresponsible (April 2) and Suzzanna: Buried Alive (April 3). Shows coming on April 5 – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, season 2, In the Shadows, Legacies (Season 1), Our Planet, Persona: Collection, Roman Empire: Caligula: The Mad Emperor, Spirit Riding Free (Season 8), Tijuana and Unicorn Store.

What’s leaving Netflix: Raw (April 4)

April 7th-9th

Star Wars

What’s coming to Netflix: Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (Season 6) – April 9.

What’s leaving Netflix: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, seasons 1-5 and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions.

April 10th-13th

New Girl

What’s coming to Netflix: (April 10) – New Girl (Season 7), You vs. Wild, April 11th, Black Summer.

(April 12) – A Land Imagined, Band Aid, Huge in France, Mighty Little Bheem, The Perfect Date, The Silence, Special and Who Would You Take to a Deserted Island?

What’s leaving Netflix: (April 13) – Video Game High School (Seasons 1-3).

April 15th-18th

Luis Miguel

What’s coming to Netflix: (April 15) – Luis Miguel, No Good Nick and The New Romantic.

(April 16) – Super Monsters Furever Friends

(April 18) – My First First Love

What’s leaving Netflix: (April 18) – Silver Linings Playbook

April 19

Cuckoo
Image courtesy: Wikipedia

What’s coming to Netflix: A Fortunate Man, Brené Brown: The Call to Courage, Cuckoo (Season 5), ‘I, Daniel Blake’, Music Teacher, Rilakkuma and Kaoru Samantha! (Season 2) and Someone Great.

April 20th-25th

Hateful 8

What’s coming to Netflix: (April 20) – Grass is Greener

(April 22) – Pinky Malinky (Part 2), Selection Day (New episodes)

(April 23) – I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

(April 24) – Bonding

(April 25) – The Hateful Eight and The Ugly Truth

April 26th

ReMastered Devil at the Crossroads
Image courtesy: Rotten Tomatoes

What’s coming to Netflix: The Protector (Season 2), Chambers, ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Season 2), Street Food, The Sapphires and Yankee.

April 27th-28th

The_Imitation_Game
Image courtesy: Wikipedia

What’s coming to Netflix: (April 27) – American Honey

(April 28) – Señora Acero (Season 5)

(April 29) – Burning and The Imitation Game

April 30th

baki 2

What’s coming to Netflix: Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward, Baki (Part 2) and Ingress: The Animation.

JVC launches a new range of smart TVs in India: Price and specifications

Japanese electronic goods maker JVC has launched six new smart LED TVs in India. The TVs vary from 40 inches to 55 inches in size and their starting price is Rs 16,999. The JVC company has been known for making audio and in-car entertainment products like speakers but prior to this and now, foraying into the TV business. It was last year that JVC teamed up with the Indian OEM Viera to announce a wide range of TVs. But now, the company has launched new range of smart TVs under its own name.

JVC TVs price and availability

The new range of TVs from JVC be available for purchase on Flipkart starting April 6. The starting price of the JVC TV range is Rs 16,999.

JVC TVs specifications and features

The new range of TVs from JVC comes in four screen sizes – 40 inches, 43 inches, 49 inches and 55 inches. They also come in two resolution variants to choose from – Full HD or 4K – depending on the screen size. As mentioned earlier, all the TVs are smart TVs and have support for apps like Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube. So, the user can go online and stream his favourite TV shows or movies through any of these platforms.

The newly-launched TVs also support Miracast, which gives users the ability to share images or videos from a smartphone to smart TVs. But for sending the content from one device to the other, both the devices must be connected to Wi-Fi. The new JVC TVs come with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It is powered by quad-core CPU and has up to 50W sound output. But the 50W sound output is only available on the 55-inch variant of the TVs. In addition to this, the speakers of the 55-inch TV also comes with Dolby certification for sound tuning.

For connectivity, the smart TVs come with standard connectivity options such as Wi-Fi and LAN making it capable of browsing the internet and giving it online services. It also has an HDMI and USB connectivity to connect with other source devices.

Although the Japanese brand is mostly known for its speakers, now it is also setting its foot in the TV industry of the country. And till now, JVC has released multiple TVs and TV series. It should also be noted that, although the TVs will come with JVC branding, the smart TVs are made and marketed by India’s Viera Group that markets and produces the TVs under the Noble Skiodo brand.

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Apple begins production of iPhone 7 in India at Wistron’s plant in Bengaluru: Report

Cupertino-based technology giant Apple has started working on its India manufacturing plans. The company has reportedly started assembling its iPhone 7 at Wistron’s facility in Bengaluru. Taiwanese industrial giant Wistron is one among Apple‘s supplier and it already assembles the iPhone 6S in the country.

Speaking to news agency IANS, a spokesperson from Apple said, “We are proud to be producing iPhone 7 in Bengaluru for our local customers furthering our long-term commitment in India.” Wistron started assembling iPhone 7 last month in India.

We should add here that Wistron announced its plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in the Narasupra industrial sector in Karnataka’s Kolar district last year. Initially, it was only assembling low-end iPhone SE in India and then later, it expanded its operations and started assembling iPhone 6S too.

According to Gujuran A, the head of Wistron India, the company will be setting up a unit to make iPhones in India in 43 acres of land that will be allotted to it. It is said that the unit will have an employment potential of over 10,000 people.

The facility by Wistron will also manufacture a wider range of Apple’s devices. The Cupertino-based technology company is slowly and steadily implementing its plans to make deeper inroads in India, which happens to be a very important market for Apple since there are over 450 million smartphones users here. Starting the assembly of iPhone 7 in India is just a step further in achieving its plans for Apple.

Speaking on the matter, Tarun Pathak, Associate Director of Hong-Kong based Counterpoint Research said that the Indian electronics market is growing very fast and has a significant advantage over some of the countries it is competing with.

Speaking to the news agency, he said, “I think to start with, it makes sense for Apple to localise assembling of models that have the potential to scale up and then slowly expands it to the entire portfolio.”

It is worth mentioning that the iPhone 7’s 32GB variant costs Rs 39,900, and the 128GB model costs Rs 49,900. In India, the price is one among the key factors for users when they are looking for a new smartphone to buy.

To begin assembling more handsets in India, Apple is also seeking tax relief and some other incentives.

We should also add that Apple has started reducing the price of the iPhone in China and may do the same in India, where a number of people still consider most iPhones to be expensive.

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LG V50 ThinQ 5G to go on sale starting April 19: Price and specifications

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LG’s flagship device – LG V50 ThinQ 5G – was unveiled by the company in February at the MWC 2019. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC clubbed with Snapdragon X50 5G modem that enables 5G connectivity on the device. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G also comes with a dual screen accessory which gives the smartphone another screen to work with.

Although the specifications of the device were unveiled at the MWC 2019 by LG but its price and availability are still a secret. But now, after a month of its unveiling, the South-Korean electronic maker has finally announced that the LG V50 ThinQ 5G will be available in the markets from April 19 and the pricing of the device for the South Korean market has also been released. Once LG V50 ThinQ 5G goes on sale, the comapny will be giving the dual-screen accessory to its users for free till May, but after that the users will have to purchase the accessory separately.

LG V50 ThinQ 5G price and availability

The LG V50 ThinQ 5G will be priced in South Korean at KRW 1,119,000 (approximately Rs 73,000). While the Dual Screen Attachment which is a 6.2-inch OLED (2160 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ display has a price of KRW 219,000 (approximately Rs 13,300).

As mentioned earlier, LG has said that the customers of the LG V50 ThinQ 5G will get the Dual Screen attachment for free if they purchase the device till May. After that, the customers will have to purchase the attachment separately.

The Dual Screen attachment for the LG V50 ThinQ 5G not just acts as a secondary display, but it also becomes a case for the smartphone. The screen connects with the device with Pogo pin connectors and is powered by the smartphone itself.

LG V50 ThinQ 5G specifications

The LG V50 ThinQ 5G sports a 6.4-inch Quad HD (1440 x 3120 pixels) OLED FullVision display that has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, a pixel density of 538ppi and comes with support for HDR10. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC paired with Adreno 640 GPU and it also has the Snapdragon X50 modem that enables 5G connectivity on the device. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G comes with 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage, and it can hold a microSD of up to 2TB. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G packs a 4,000mAH battery with Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging support and has a USB Type-C port.

On the camera front, the LG V50 ThinQ 5G comes with a triple-rear camera setup which comprises of a 12MP primary camera with 78-degree lens, f/1.5 aperture and 1.4-micron pixel size paired with a 12MP telephoto lens with 45-degree lens, f/2.4 aperture and 1-micron pixel size along with a 16MP wide-angle lens with 107-degree lens, f/1.9 aperture and 1-micron pixel size. At the front, there is a dual camera setup that which houses an 8MP RGB sensor with an f/1.9 aperture, 1-micron pixel size and 80-degree lens paired with a 5MP wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture, 90-degree lens and 1.12-micron pixels.

Other features of the LG V50 ThinQ 5G include 3G, 4G LTE-A and 5G connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G also comes with an IP68 rating which gives it dust and water resistance, and it also features a MIL-STD 810G certified build.

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Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Review: A Vintage looking speaker with modern features and excellent sound output

Ubon, the Indian audio company, added a new wireless speaker to its list of products named Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker. The SP-50 comes with a wooden built with some parts created of plastic. Holding a price tag of Rs 2,990 the design of the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker is retro and for the sound quality and other interesting features read the rest of our review of the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker:

In This Article

Design

The design of the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker seems to be from the early 1,900’s. It is an old-school design mixed with modern technology. The BT speaker has a mixed built of wood and plastic. The majority of the SP-50 is made out of wood while some of its parts like the controls or the smartphone dock is made out of plastic. Even though it is made of two materials, but both have more or less same colour scheme which gives it a one-tone colour look.

The front of the speaker houses the speaker grills made out of plastic, inside which two small sized speakers are placed along with a small sub-woofer. The UBON logo prominently sits on the front of the speaker grills. The top of the speaker has the smartphone dock where you can place your smartphone or tablet in a dock cut out. The top also houses the media controls and the volume dial.

To elaborate, there are 4 buttons placed on top of the UBON SP-50 accompanied with the volume dial. The four buttons are — Previous, Next, Play/Pause and the Mode selection button. All the buttons are made out of plastic and have a sturdy feel, but the volume button is a bit hard to rotate i.e., its movement is not fluid.

The left and the right side of the speaker is plain and doesn’t have anything. But the back of the device houses the main controls and connectors. There is a power on/off switch at the back of the UBON SP-50 speaker along with a USB connector, which can be used to play songs from a pen drive. There is also a microSD card slot that can be used to directly play the songs from a compatible card. Over that, there is also an AUX jack available here, which can be used to connect the speaker to the smartphone or other devices.

Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Front

There is also a micro USB slot which is the charging port of the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker. Weirdly, the LED notification light is located at the back of the device. It was hard to understand if the device was turned off or on when looking from the front. The light usually glows blue when in normal mode, red in low battery mode and blue + red while charging the speaker.

The device comes in only one colour variant – Brown Wood. Since it is light wood, we at times felt that if the device drops it might break. Also the surface will get scratched very easily.

Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

The Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker has a boxy build and although it seems like one would want to carry it, it will be a hard task carrying this speaker inside a bag, as portability is a bit of an issue. These are best kept inside the house.

Performance

The Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker packs two 10W speakers and they have a frequency range of 60Hz to 15KHz (15,000Hz). There is also a small hole cut-out between the speakers, which houses the sub-woofer. It comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and has 10 metres BT working range, which is an acceptable distance.

The speaker comes with a 2,000mAh battery and the company has promised a battery life of 6 hours of playback time on a single charge. And when we tested the speaker it was able to give just about that much, which is a good battery backup for a Bluetooth speaker. As mentioned earlier, it can play songs via Bluetooth, microSD card, Pen drive, AUX cable and it also comes with an in-built FM Radio.

Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker connectivity panel

The company had also promised that it can reconnect with the last device connected to it which is true. Once our smartphone’s Bluetooth was turned on, the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker automatically detected and connected with the smartphone. So the headache of re-pairing a device goes away, as the device remembers.

Now coming to the main part of the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker — the sound. In which the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker performs quite well. In brief, the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker is loud. It gives a good mixture of lows and highs. The treble is clear and it also has a good level of bass. Although the speaker doesn’t have a wide sub-woofer, it delivers quite well in the bass department.

Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker smartphone holder

The company promised HD and stereo sound quality from the Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker and it was true to quite an extent. What we expected from this Speaker was delivered to us. Even though it did not exceed our expectations, it passed our tests with good marks.

Verdict

The Ubon SP-50 Wooden Wireless Bluetooth Speaker delivers what the company said it will deliver, no more and no less. It offers good sound quality with good levels of treble and bass. The sound offered by it is clear and loud and even the low notes are precise. Its build quality gives a retro and vintage look but at times we did feel it is not too sturdy. And lastly the price, with a price tag of Rs 2,990, it has stiff competition in the market. As others are giving water proof capability for just Rs 200-300 more.

Rating 3.0

Pros :

Excellent sound quality

Good bass and treble

Battery Backup

Cons:

Build not super sturdy

Slightly expensive

Not very portable

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Google discontinues its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones

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Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were released back in October 2017 and they were the search giant’s flagship offerings to the smartphone market. And now, 2 years after their launch and months after their successors got unveiled, Google has stopped selling its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL in the US markets.

On Google’s official product website, you will only find Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL being sold along with the Pixel Stand, Pixel Cases, Google Pixel Buds, and other accessories. The only place where the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL are mentioned is the ‘Find the right Pixel for you’ section. This is the section where the Pixel, the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 3 are compared with each other. But there is no ‘Buy Now’ button besides the Google Pixel 2 devices.

On its official products website, Google is asking the users to buy the Pixel 3 series instead of the Pixel 2 series of smartphones. The news was first spotted by Android Police, and before its discontinuation, the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were sold with discounts and offers during festivals and sales. And now, the company has completely stopped the sale of the Pixel 2 devices. However, it should be noted that the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL software support will last another year.

After discontinuation from its products website, Google has removed the Pixel 2 series listing from its India website as well. On the India website, only the Pixel 3 and its other accessories are seen in the phone section. We should add here that on Flipkart, the Google Pixel 2 with 4GB RAM Just Black variant is still being sold. All the other variants of the device are listed ‘out of stock’ on Flipkart.

Earlier, we saw that the search giant might be planning to launch its Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL which will be a watered down and affordable version of the Google’s Pixel 3 flagship smartphones. The Pixel 3a will reportedly sport a 5.6-inch display and will be powered by Snapdragon 670 SoC while the Pixel 3a XL may feature a 6-inch display and will be reportedly be powered by the Snapdragon 710 SoC. Both the devices might come with 4GB of RAM and 18W fast charging support with USB Type-C port. Some reports suggest that the smartphone will be unveiled at Google I/O 2019, however, Google has not confirmed this yet.

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[Video] Samsung Galaxy A50 review: We are in love with its camera quality

Samsung Galaxy A50 smartphone is powered by Exynos 9610 SoC paired with 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM. The new handset by Samsung comes with a triple rear camera setup comprising of a 25MP sensor, a 5MP sensor and an 8MP sensor. The price of the smartphone begins at Rs 19,990 in India. Is Samsung Galaxy A50 a worthy buy or not? Watch our review to find out.

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Facebook may start paying publishers to post their content in a dedicated news section: Mark Zuckerberg

It’s been more than a year since Facebook announced that it would be featuring less news. And now, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a new idea for publishers: A section on the social media platform that will only be dedicated to ‘high-quality news’. He has also said that Facebook may pay publishers to post their content on this section.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed this idea in a conversation with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner. The conversation was recorded and then posted on Facebook by Zuckerberg. In his Facebook post, Zuckerberg said, “We talked about the role quality journalism plays in building informed communities and the principles Facebook should use for building a news tab to surface more high-quality news, including the business model and ecosystem to support it.”

In the video, Zuckerberg can be seen talking about building a feature on the social media platform for publishers. He said that Facebook could, “potentially have a direct relationship with publishers to make sure that their content is available if it’s really high-quality content.”

This year I'm hosting a series of discussions about the future of technology and society. This time I sat down with…

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, April 1, 2019

With this, Zuckerberg has hinted about paying publishers on its platform some kind of licensing fee for posting in the dedicated section.

He added, “That’s definitely something that I think we should be thinking about here because the relationship between us and publishers is different in a surface where we’re showing the content on the basis of us believing that it’s high-quality, trustworthy content.”

However, it is worth noticing that Facebook has not spoken about charging customers for reading stories from this section and according to a report in Recode that quotes a person familiar with the matter, the news tab will be free for users.

According to what Zuckerberg said in the video, “We’re coming to this from a very different perspective than I think some of the other players in the space who view news as a way that they want to maximize their revenue. That’s not necessarily the way that we’re thinking about this.”

We should mention that this is a big deviation from Facebook’s usual strategy. The algorithm of the platform has made it increasingly difficult for publishers to make their content reach users unless they are willing to spend to reach to people.

We should also point out that this idea was being discussed internally by Facebook executives for months. The project has been led by Facebook’s outgoing product boss Chris Cox and its head of news partnerships Campbell Brown. Facebook has also tested the dedicated news tab internally. According to company executives, the new tab will be up by the end of 2019.

Zuckerberg also added:

“One of the things that I’ve been thinking about at Facebook is how to make it so that the people who use our services and want to get more news content can do that. You know, in News Feed, primarily people come to the service to connect with friends, to get updates on people’s day to day lives. There’s a lot of news content in there because it’s so important. But there’s a lot of people who have a demand to want more news … I think there are going to be, call it 10, 15, maybe 20 percent of people in our community, who really want to go deep and have an experience which is — that they can go to that’s all news that will give us hopefully the ability to dramatically increase the distribution and, if it’s successful, the monetization to high-quality participants in the ecosystem so that’s something I’m personally excited about.”

Although Facebook has hinted that it would be paying publishers for posting their content in the dedicated section, till the time it directly says it, we would not be surprised to see it go back to its usual ways of making publishers pay instead.

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Amazon Echo Show sale goes live today on Amazon India: Get all the details here

Amazon has expanded its range of smart devices in India with the launch of the second generation its Amazon Echo Show. The Amazon Echo Show comes with a 10-inch display and has Dolby-tuned speakers making it more user friendly and easy to operate. The sale of the Amazon Echo Show goes live today on Amazon India and other select retailers. The newly launched Amazon Echo Show bears a price tag of Rs 22,999. Previously, the company has launched a number of other devices that have been selling in the Indian market including Amazon Echo Dot, Amazon Echo smart speakers, Fire TV streaming sticks etc.

Launch offers on the Amazon Echo Show include a free Philips Hue smart lightbulb with the purchase of the smart speaker. There is also Rs 2,000 cash back if customers pay for their purchase using Citibank credit and debit cards, and no-cost EMI plans on purchases with cards of major banks.

The second generation of the Amazon Echo Show was launched in the US back in October 2018 but at that time, it was not made available in India. After months of its global launch, the Amazon Echo Show will be going on sale on Amazon India. The Amazon Echo Show is similar in function like the previously launched Amazon Echo Spot. The Amazon Echo Show comes with a fabric design and has a 10-inch HD resolution screen, that allows the user more interaction with the smart speaker. The users can even watch videos and listen to audio using the Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. But the display on top of the Amazon Echo Show gives the user an ability to video call, home surveillance, voice assistant support and much more features.

In addition to this, the Amazon Echo Show also comes with Dolby-tuned speakers, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The Zigbee architecture for home automation and smart home functionality is also added to the new smart speakers. Along with that, the Amazon Echo Show comes with 8 microphones for the far-field voice recognition and video calling. The microphones allow the speakers to listen to the voice commands from a long distance while listening to the sounds during the voice and the video calls. Along with that, the Amazon Echo Show comes with a 5MP camera at the front for video calling and other video-based works.

Amazon Echo Show
Amazon Echo Show

The 10-inch screen of the Amazon Echo Show adds the ability to stream movies, music or TV shows from Amazon Prime Video and stream songs from Amazon Prime Music, Gaana or JioSaavn. Users can also view their Facebook photos, movies, and news using the screen. But the key function of the Amazon Echo Show is its AI voice assistant – Alexa. The device can be used as a regular Amazon Echo, Echo Plus speakers or as a tablet. The Amazon Echo Show also comes with an in-built web browser that can be used to shop online, book a cab using Ola and more. Alexa can also be customised based on the needs and the choices of the user. The device can be used with other Amazon’s devices as well.

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro receives Android Pie with MIUI 10.9.3.28 beta update

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Last week, Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 Pro finally got its first Android 9.0 Pie based MIUI 10.9.3.25 Global Beta ROM update. And now, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro is getting yet another update that brings major fixes and improvements to the lock screen, password, PINs and the battery indicator in the notification bar. With the MIUI 10.9.3.28 beta update, Xiaomi is also including the March Android security patch for the Redmi Note 5 Pro. However, the update is still in its beta phase and the company hasn’t revealed the dates when Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro will receive the stable version of the update.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has put out links to the new Android Pie update for the Redmi Note 5 Pro users in its official forum. Users can visit the website and download the beta version of the update. The forum also mentions the steps through which the users can download the update and install it in their devices. Once users download the update file, they can update their devices using the Recovery ROM method and the Fastboot ROM method. But in both the cases, the users will be required to flash their devices. Steps of flashing has also been provided on the company’s official forum. But it should be noted that before you flash your Redmi Note 5 Pro, you should back up the data on your device to reduce the chances of data loss.

The new Android 9.0 Pie with MIUI 10 9.3.28 Global Beta ROM changelog contains the March Android security patch and other fixes and improvements over its previous update. The update fixes the errors the users received when they entered their passwords or PINs. A virus scan issue of the device as well as an issue with the status bar and the battery indicator have been fixed.

Another improvement in the update for the Redmi Note 5 Pro includes adding passwords while transparent wallpapers are applied. Other than this, the issue with displaying notifications on the Lock Screen has also been fixed. Earlier, the MIUI 10 9.3.25 Global Beta update in closed beta brought the much-awaited system-wide dark mode for the Xiaomi devices, and this feature has also been added to the new MIUI 10.9.3.25 update.

The Redmi Note 5 Pro is currently selling for Rs 12,999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant, while the 6GB RAM model of the device sells for Rs 13,999.

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PUBG Mobile Prime and Prime Plus subscriptions are now official: Here’s everything that you should know

When Tencent Games rolled out PUBG Mobile’s 0.11.5 update, the company promised that it would soon be launching the Prime and Prime Plus subscriptions for the game too. These new subscriptions allow players to get a daily bonus of Unknown Cash and discounts.

Along with this, the subscriptions also give players the ability to purchase various items in the game using their Battle Points. The company has announced that PUBG Mobile Prime and Prime Plus subscriptions are now available in the game itself. We should mention that the subscriptions are now available on Android as well as on iOS, however, the pricing between the two are different.

PUBG Mobile players who own an Android smartphone will have to pay Rs 85 for the Prime subscription and Rs 400 for the Prime Plus subscription. Furthermore, Prime Plus will be available for Rs 850 after the first month. On iOS, the Prime subscription can be availed for Rs 79 and Rs 419 has to be paid for the Prime Plus subscription.

We should add here that after the first month, the Prime Plus subscription will be available for Rs 799. Here’s what players will get is they pay for PUBG Mobile’s Prime and Prime Plus subscriptions:

PUBG Mobile Prime subscription features

  • Purchase items with Battle Points (option of seven days and 30 days)
  • Collect 5 Unknown Cash (UC) daily for a total of 150 UC

PUBG Mobile Prime Plus subscription features

  • Collect 20 Unknown Cash (UC) daily for a total of 600 UC
  • Purchase items with Battle Points (Players can opt between seven days,3 0 days and permanent)
  • Earn 10 RP points every day
  • GEt daily discounts on various items
  • First Classic Crate lottery every day will be off by 50%

We should mention that while PUBG Mobile’s 0.11.5 update is still getting additions, the beta for the game‘s 0.12.0 update is also being rolled out to users. It reportedly comes with a number of new features like a new mode called Darkest Night, the ability to take companions into battle to earn cosmetic items.

Other new additions that are a part of PUBG Mobile’s 0.12.0 update are jumping zombies, zombie dogs, liquid nitrogen grenades and a new menu section that is being called as MugenSpace or Infinity. The new section replaces the Events mode on PUBG Mobile. The size of PUBG Mobile’s 0.12.0 beta update is reported to be 1.8GB on Android, so when a stable update rolls out, it should have a similar size too.

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Realme U1 price in India slashed, now available at Rs 9,999

Realme has slashed the price of its Realme U1 smartphone in India, and now the handset is available on Amazon India at a starting price of Rs 9,999. We should mention that the price cut can be availed on both the RAM/storage variants of the Realme U1 and is applicable on Amazon’s website as well as Realme’s official online store.

Realme U1 smartphone was launched in November 2018 in India and its highlights include a waterdrop shaped notch, a dual rear camera setup, a 6.3-inch display and a MediaTek Helio P70 processor.

The Chinese smartphone maker posted on its Twitter handle about the drop in price. It said that while the 3GB RAM/32GB storage variant of the Realme U1 smartphone can now be picked up at Rs 9,999, the 4GB RAM/64GB storage model can be bought at a reduced price of Rs 11,999. It is worth noticing that in February this year the price of both the variants of Realme U1 was slashed to Rs 10,999 and Rs 13,499 respectively.

As we mentioned earlier, the smartphone is available on Amazon India’s website as well as on Realme’s official online store. Interested customers can pick the device up in Fiery Gold, Ambitious Black, and Brave Blue colour options.

Realme U1 specifications

Realme U1 smartphone supports dual SIM cards and runs Android 8.1 Oreo skinned with ColorOS 5.2. The handset sports a 6.3-inch full-HD+ LCD display that has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. Realme U1 mobile is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P70 processor clubbed with ARM G72 GPU. The device comes with up to 4GB of RAM and has up to 64GB internal storage. Both the variants of the Realme U1 smartphone can hold a microSD card of up to 256GB.

For imaging duties, Realme U1 comes with a dual rear camera setup with a 13MP primary sensor that has an f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP sensor that has an f/2.4 aperture, clubbed with LED flash. The camera app of the smartphone also has support for Portrait Lighting, Slo-Mo video, AI Scene Detection, and Bokeh effect. On the front panel of the smartphone is a 25MP Sony IMX576 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture that comes with an AI Face Unlock feature. The smartphone also has a fingerprint scanner on its back panel.

The Realme U1 smartphone houses a 3,500mAh battery and its connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, micro-USD port, OTG support, and 3.5mm audio jack.

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Haier launches its new range of ACs in India: Price and features

Haier has introduced its next generation of ACs in India. The newly-launched ACs are an All Rounder PuriCool Range of Air Conditioners with a built-in air purifier. And Haier has said that the next generation of ACs with air purifier have specifically been designed for Indian customers. They also come equipped with automatic air quality detection. The newly launched ACs come in 5-star (HSU-12JS5 DC INV & HSU-19JS5 DC INV) and 3-star variants (HSU-12JW3 (DC INV) & HSU-19JW3 DC INV).

Haeir HSU-12JS5 DC INV & HSU-19JS5 DC INV and HSU-12JW3 (DC INV) & HSU-19JW3 DC INV price in India

Let’s first talk about the two 5-star ACs by Haeir. While HSU-12JS5 (DC INV) is priced at Rs 76,500, the HSU-19JS5 (DC INV) bears a price tag of Rs 100,000. Coming to the 3-star variants, the HSU-12JW3 (DC INV) costs Rs 69,500 and the HSU-19JW3 (DC INV) model is priced at Rs 74,500. All the four newly launched ACs will be available in the market with 12 years of compressor warranty.

Speaking on the launch of the new ACs, Eric Braganza, President of Haier Appliances India said “We at Haier believe in introducing innovations that make our customers’ life comfortable and efficient. Our new revolutionary range of PuriCool air conditioners solve a real problem that Indians face today with growing air pollution which is an indoor threat as much as an outdoor concern. Equipped with the best-in-class technology features from Haier, the new PuriCool ACs are the ‘true air conditioners’ that India needs today that not only deliver cool air but also clean & breathable air. With the introduction of such user-centric products, we are looking at creating a new era of smart technology in the white goods space.”

Haier H SU-12JS5 DC INV & HSU-19JS5 DC INV and HSU-12JW3 (DC INV) & HSU-19JW3 DC INV features

Both the newly launched 5-star ACS – SU-12JS5 DC INV & HSU-19JS5 DC INV – and 3-star ACs – HSU-12JW3 (DC INV) & HSU-19JW3 DC INV – are available in 1 and1.5-tons cooling capacities. They come with an inbuilt air purifier which can purify the air inside the room/home. So, there is no need of an additional air purifier in the house. All the four ACs come with Haier Self Purity function which gives them powerful air purification system with an effective iFD (Intense Field Dielectric) filter, automatic PM 2.5 air quality detection and slide-able cruising module. The ACs offer a high CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) of 300m³/h.

PuriCool 5 Star
PuriCool 5 Star

According to the company, the iFD process used in the ACs removes up to 99.99% of air-borne pollutants as small as 0.3 microns which includes dust, smoke, pollen, bacteria etc. The purifiers of the newly launched ACs doesn’t need to be replaced as it is washable and reusable.

The newly launched ACs features a 3-in-1 display which allows the user to see the temperature, humidity and PM 2.5 details all at the same time on a single screen. Furthermore, both the 5-star Haier PuriCool ACs comes with smart Wi-Fi option which connects them to the Wi-Fi network and allows greater connectivity and control to the users.

Haier new range of ACs HSU-12JS5 DC INV, HSU-19JS5 DC INV, HSU-12JW3 DC INV & HSU-19JW3 DC INV released: Price and features
PuriCool 3 Star

Other features of both the newly launched 5-star ACS – SU-12JS5 DC INV & HSU-19JS5 DC INV – and 3-star ACs – HSU-12JW3 (DC INV) & HSU-19JW3 DC INV – include Self-Cleaning Inverter Technology which automatically cleans the ACs evaporator. They also come with Haier’s Turbo cool technology that draws the hot air out of a room quickly and efficiently which results in cooling the room instantly.

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Gmail adds email scheduling, improves Smart Compose feature

On its 15th birthday, Gmail got some new and useful features. Google has rolled out an update to its Smart Compose feature and will also let users the option of scheduling emails to send at a later time. However, we should add that the upgrades to Gmail‘s Smart Compose feature are nothing major.

Launched in 2018, Google’s Smart Compose features suggests ways to finish the sentence to its users. And now, with upgrades, Google says that the feature will also be able to “can now adapt to the way you write.” So while earlier you had to opt for the pre-written Smart Compose suggests saving time, the feature will have to adapt to your writing style to suggest replies that look like they have actually written by you.

To be more specific, technology giant Google has said that now, the Smart Compose feature will remember your preferred way of greeting people. However, the company does not provide any other key details other than this. Besides this, Smart Compose will also suggest lines based on the text of the user’s email.

The company has also said that Smart Compose has saved Gmail users from typing “over 1 billion characters each week” on its desktop version. It also said that the upgraded version of Smart Compose will now be available on Android devices, and will soon be available on iOS too.

Coming to Schedule Messages, it is a more straight-forward update to Gmail. So, once you complete typing an email, you can now click the arrow next to the ‘Send’ button in the compose window of your inbox. This will bring up the scheduler and users will be able to choose from pre-sets or add a particular time when you wish to send the email.

Earlier, emails could be scheduled Gmail via third-party extensions. However, having the feature in-built will definitely make it more convenient for a lot of users as not everyone installs third-party extensions. When communicating across different time zones, the feature can prove to be an extremely useful one.

A few days back, Google also rolled out support for AMP on Gmail, however, till now, the update is available as a beta in G Suite. According to the company, the support for AMP in Gmail is designed to make emails seem more like an interactive webpage so that users would not have to go to a browser for the same experience.

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Yahoo Cricket launches daily fantasy game in India that has a prize of Rs 1,00,000

There’s some news for cricket fans in India. Yahoo Cricket, which is a part of Verizon Media, has played on the ongoing IPL fever in India and launched its Daily Fantasy Cricket Game. With the game, users can customise their teams based on the Indian T20 league daily matches. Winners would stand a chance to win vouchers worth Rs 7,500 per game day. The ultimate Yahoo Cricket Daily Fantasy winner will stand a chance to win the tournament price of e-vouchers worth Rs 1,00,000.

Fantasy Cricket has been gaining popularity in India very rapidly. We should mention that it is widely acknowledged as a game of skill, where users compete with each other on a virtual platform. However, the teams are created with real players. The game awards point to users on the basis of the real player’s performance during an actual match. Fantasy games are known to encourage fans to develop a deeper interest and involvement in the game, which leads to a surge in the overall engagement.

It is worth adding that currently around 40 million people in India play Fantasy Cricket and according to the company, the numbers are going up by the day. According to industry reports, the fantasy sports market in the country is expected to grow to 100 million users by 2020. Needless to say, companies are doing their bit to capture the growing market early on.

Yahoo Cricket Daily Fantasy experience is a lot like the game’s counterpart in the US counterpart. The company claims that Yahoo Fantasy Sports has been rated as the #1 Rated Fantasy App in the US, and is popularly known for its ‘player favourite’ features. The game has a fan-first approach which, according to the company, helps it in maintaining its track record of “serving up innovative and award-winning fantasy experiences and products.”

Yahoo Cricket has also added that cricket lovers in India can expect the same winning experience, but it will be localized according to their tastes and preferences. The game is said to come with features that create an immersive experience for fans. Players will be able to create and manage their own game day cricket team, challenge friends to play and track who tops the leader board. The Daily Fantasy Cricket also offers a ‘corporate league’ option, which amplifies the fun for larger groups.

The Daily Fantasy experience is available on the Yahoo Cricket app that can be downloaded via Google Play. The game is also available on the web browser on both desktop and mobile.

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Mi Fan Festival 2019 sale: Discounts on POCO F1, Redmi Note 6 Pro, Re 1 sale and more

Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi has announced its Mi Fan Festival 2019, which is all set to begin on April 4 and will go on till April 6. So, if you are planning to buy a Xiaomi product, this is the sale you should make use of. The sale will go on for three days and will see discounts like Xiaomi’s POCO F1 and Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphones.

Other products that will be available during the sale at reduced prices are Mi LED TV 4 Pro, Mi Band, and the Mi Air Purifier 2S among others. The company will also be hosting its Re 1 Flash Sale and a new Mystery Box Sale during the period of April 4 and April 6. The Mi Fans Festival 2019 will be held on Xiaomi‘s official website, its online partner platforms, Mi Store, Mi Home and some of its offline partner stores too.

Mi Fans Festival offers

Xiaomi has said that its POCO F1 smartphone with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage can be picked up at Rs 20,999 and its Redmi Note 5 Pro with 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/64GB storage will be available for Rs 10,999 and Rs 11,999 respectively. This is Rs 2,000 less than all the three smartphones’ original price.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage will be available at a price cut of Rs 3,000 and can be picked up at Rs 10,999.

We should also mention that Redmi 7, Redmi 7 Pro and Redmi Go handsets that have been launched by the company recently will also be available during the Mi Fans Festival 2019. The sale will begin on April 4 at 12 pm and will offer discounts on Redmi 6, Redmi 6 Pro, Redmi 6A smartphones too.

The Chinese electronics company has also listed its Mi Compact Bluetooth Speaker 2, Mi Earphones, Mi Body Composition, Mi Air Purifier 2S and Mi Band HRX Edition at reduced rates.

Xiaomi has also partnered with HDFC Bank to offer an instant discount of 5% and EMI transaction for customers of the Mi LED TC and Mi Soundbar. In addition to this, MobiKwik will also be offering 15% instant Mobikwik SuperCash of up to Rs 2,000 on the purchase of any product during Xiaomi’s sale. If customers will use Mi Pay, they will also be able to win Mi TVs and Redmi Note 7.

Xiaomi will also be rolling out interactive games like ‘Fun and Furious’, under which customers will stand a chance to win Redmi Note 7. On the other hand, players will be able to win POCO F1, Mi Band 3 and Mi Coupons as a part of ‘Play and Win’. And in the Re 1 Flash Sale, buyers will be able to get Redmi Note 7 Pro, POCO F1, Mi Soundbar, the 32-inch model of Mi LED TV 4A Pro, Home Security Camera, and Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones. The Re 1 sale will begin every day at 2 pm IST.

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Jabra launches the world’s first shared headphones

Jabra has today announced that it has launched the world’s first shared headphones called Jabra Earbud(dy)TM. The company says that Jabra Earbud(dy)TM headphones have been made for shared music moments and come equipped with an ultra-light headband that can be extended “seamlessly to accommodate the perfect fit for every pair of buddies.”

The company has further added that the headphones will come with a Buddy mode that promises a shared music experience that can be personalised according to users’ preferences. The Buddy mode can be accessed via Jabra’s app and it will take care of both your and your friend’s music preferences. So if you like louder bass better, while your friend doesn’t the mode will make sure that Jabra Earbud(dy)TM headphones cater to you both. For doing this, the mode comes with an easy-to-use music equaliser.

Furthermore, the headphones can be connected to dual voice assistance apps. According to the company, this feature allows users to connect seamlessly to two smartphones at once, so you can still hear from your favourite voice command on your device while also sharing magical music moments with your buddy.

Jabra has also added that Earbud(dy)TM has a battery life that lasts up to 15 hours even with music sharing on. The company has promised 5 hours of listening time with just 20 minutes of quick charge.

We feel that Jabra Earbud(dy)TM is the perfect way to completely defeat the purpose of having a pair of headphones as you would never be able to enjoy music alone. Furthermore, you would only be able to listen to music with one ear, as the other earcup will be used by your music-buddy.

If the product sounds like a ridiculous one to you, we should remind you that its April Fools’ Day, and we think that this is Jabra’s way of pulling a prank on its fans. Nice try Jabra! But we don’t think that you are actually launching the Earbud(dy)TM headphones.

We should add that Jabra did everything to make the launch authentic. Claus Fonnesbech, Senior Director at Jabra said about the headphones, “Whether it’s lovers, family or friends, music has always brought people together and that was the feeling we wanted to capture with the Jabra Earbud(dy). Shared music experiences are magical and something that everyone relates to. The Jabra Earbud(dy) ensures a personalized experience every time so your music is tailored to your needs – even if it’s shared with someone. With summer just around the corner, there is no better time to buddy up and create wonderful music experiences with those that mean the most to you!”

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