This week in tech (October 22-October 28): A look at all that happened

Gadget Bridge Bureau

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Oct 27, 2018

This week in tech (October 22-October 28): A look at all that happened

It was an exciting week for the world of technology. Xiaomi launched two smartphones with 10GB RAM, the world saw the first ever smartphone that comes with 5G connectivity and WhatsApp got a much-awaited feature. The ‘affordable’ iPhone XR has gone on sale for the first time and Apple and Samsung got fined by Italy. Here’s a look at all that happened this week. Take a look:

In This Article

iPhone XR has gone on sale in India

If you want to buy an iPhone from Apple’s new lineup, but found the pricing of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max to be too high, then iPhone XR is the smartphone for you. You can buy the device on Flipkart, Airtel Online Store and Jio’s website, or, if you prefer to shop for your gadgets offline, you can head to the likes of IndiaiStore, iWorld, Unicorn, and Imagine. Although it has been touted as Apple’s affordable smartphone, its base model with 64GB storage costs Rs 76,900 in India. If you wish to buy the variants with more storage, you will have to pay Rs 81,900 for the 128GB model and Rs 91,900 for the most high-end one that comes with 256GB storage.

WhatsApp gets a much-awaited feature

Stickers are a feature that WhatsApp users have been waiting for, for a long time. And if you were one such user, then your wait is now over. Stickers are now available on the Beta version of WhatsApp, for its both Android and iOS apps. They are also available on WhatsApp Web’s Beta version. The feature will soon come to the main version of the app and will be rolled out in a phased manner.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 smartphone launched

Yes that’s right. Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is the first ever smartphone to come with 5G connectivity. The key specifications of the smartphone include Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, a massive 10GB of RAM, and 6.4-inch OLED touch screen. It comes with dual front cameras that are housed in a slider and also sports a dual rear camera setup. As of now, it has only been launched in China in three RAM and storage variants and there is no word when it is coming to India.

Two budget Asus smartphones go on sale in India

Asus ZenFone Lite L1 and the ZenFone Max M1 have gone on sale in India. Both the smartphones are priced under Rs 10,000. While Asus ZenFone Max M1 can be bought for Rs 8,999, Zenfone Lite L1 bears a price tag of Rs 6,999. As an introductory offer, Zenfone Max M1 is available for Rs 7,499 and the ZenFone Lite L1 for Rs 5,999. You can buy the smartphones exclusively from Flipkart.

Apple and Samsung fined by Italy

Apple and Samsung have been fined by Italy’s competition authority for “planned obsolescence” of their smartphones. While Apple has to pay massive $11.5 million as fine, Samsung has been fined with $5.7 million. The ruling is believed to be the first against smartphone manufacturers for encouraging OS updates for older phone models, which ultimately just slows them down or makes them obsolete. Most consumers ultimately have to purchase a new smartphone for themselves after older one that they are using becomes slow, thanks to the updates sent by the company.

Xiaomi Black Shark Helo smartphone launched

Xiaomi seems to be on a spree of launching devices with 10GB RAM. It’s Black Shark Helo smartphone comes in three RAM variants, with the most high-end having 10GB of RAM. Other key specifications of Xiaomi Black Shark Helo include Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, X+1 antenna and up to 256GB storage. The company has also announced a controller doc for the smartphone that it calls Black Shark Biplane Handle.

HTC’s Blockchain phone went up on pre-orders

HTC Exodus 1, which is being touted as the company’s Blockchain smartphone – is now up for preorders. What’s unusual about the phone is that it comes with a wallet called Zion that is ‘protected from the Android OS’. And this can be used to keep your cryptocurrency and tokens. The Blockchain phone from HTC also has a recovery mechanism that can be used in case the user loses his phone or misplace key information. Other key specifications of the device are Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. But what truly makes it unconventional is the fact that you can only pay for it using cryptocurrency.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX800 compact high-zoom camera in India: Price and specifications

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Gadget Bridge Bureau

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Oct 26, 2018

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX800 compact high-zoom camera in India: Price and specifications

Sony India has expanded its Cyber-shot lineup in India with the launch of its new camera, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX800. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX800 compact high-zoom camera is claimed to have the “world’s smallest body” for its type and it has a range starting from 24mm that goes up to 720mm. The new camera by Sony comes with 4K video recording capabilities and has Bionz X image processing.

The camera is priced at Rs 34,990 and will be available across all Alpha Flagship stores, Sony Center stores and other electronic retail shops in the country. If you are an interested buyer, you can get your camera on October 29.

The camera by Sony comes with Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T High Magnification Zoom lens and as we mentioned earlier, its zoom range starts from 24mm and goes up to 720mm super-telephoto.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX800 camera sports a back-illuminated Exmor RTM CMOS sensor that comes with an effective resolution of 18.2MP. Its optical SteadyShot enables image stabilisation on the camera its Zoom Assist function lets users zoom out temporarily so that they can see a wider area while they are shooting a subject from the 720mm telephoto end.

The company has said that the newly launched camera can capture a 4K movie footage “with full pixel readout and no pixel binning.” Sony has also claimed the new models can shoot fast-moving subjects with high-frame rate HD recording at up to 100fps to produce impressive slow-motion sequences during editing.

The camera has a Bionz X image processing engine clubbed with an LSI which is said to deliver high-speed continuous shooting at up to 10fps. It has a buffer limit of up to 155 images.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX800 has Bluetooth support that enables transfer to smartphones that come with Android 5.0 or higher and Bluetooth v.4 or higher. The device also works with iPhones starting with iPhone 4S and iPads starting with iPad generation 3.

Other features of the camera include autofocus with only 0.09 seconds of speed, eye autofocus, touch focus/touch shutter function, sensitivity up to ISO 6400 for low-light photography and RAW format image recording. For enhanced selfie shots, there is a 180-degree tiltable LCD touchscreen.

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Samsung’s foldable phone, Galaxy S10 to be launched early next year: Report

Aadvika

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Oct 26, 2018

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Samsung’s foldable phone, Galaxy S10 to be launched early next year: Report

Samsung fans have a lot to look forward to. According to a report in Bloomberg, the technology giant will be launching three new Galaxy S10 models along with the much talked about foldable phone early next year.

Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus will reportedly feature curved OLED screens and will sport in-display fingerprint scanners. The Android smartphones will come with a triple rear camera setup and a front facing snapper that will be “visible and tucked under the screen.” As of now, there is little clarity on what it means, but reports suggest that the technology giant is working on placing the cameras beneath the display, in order to deliver an all-screen experience to users.

The report also says that Samsung has made certain prototypes of its S10 smartphone without headphone jacks. However, we will have to wait for more details before we can say that the company has decided to eliminate them.

The third S10 model that Samsung has been working on is supposedly an affordable variant of the phone. It is said to come without a curved screen and will not sport an in-display fingerprint sensor. An earlier report has suggested that this model would have a fingerprint scanner on its side edge.

It is also being said that the company is planning to bring a 5G version of Galaxy S10 in the US and is in talks with Verizon Wireless for the same. A leaked code has revealed that Samsung has been working on a 5G Galaxy S10 model and its codename is ‘Beyond’.

Coming to Samsung’s foldable smartphone, according to The Wall Street Journal, it has been codenamed ‘Winner’. The smartphone would not sport an in-display fingerprint sensor, considering it will be difficult to incorporate it because of technical issues. The report in The Wall Street Journal also said that the smartphone will be around 7-inches diagonal when unfolded.

It is being said that Samsung is deciding whether the smartphone should fold vertically or horizontally, but we don’t think it is credible considering that the technology giant has suggested that it may showcase the device at its developer conference that is scheduled for next month.

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OnePlus 6T specifications leaked again ahead of launch

Gadget Bridge Bureau

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Oct 26, 2018

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OnePlus 6T specifications leaked again ahead of launch

Just a few more days are remaining for the launch of OnePlus 6T and the rumour mill about the smartphone cannot come to a rest. Earlier this week, we had compiled all the specifications and the expected pricing details of the device and today, the specifications of the device have been leaked again on Twitter by tipster Ishan Agarwal.

So here is the Big OnePlus leak excusively by me! Full specs of OnePlus 6T (earlier ones were wrong) and Product images detailing new features!Great, right?!More in this thread itself. Brand new display and 20MP Front Camera! Its one hell of a T upgrade! Your thoughts?#OnePlus6T pic.twitter.com/5YjdLkiKgM

— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) October 25, 2018

One of the key things that the latest leak confirms is the fact that OnePlus 6T will run Android 9.0 Pie. In the specifications that were listed earlier on German retailer Otto said Android 8.1 Oreo instead of Pie, something that we thought was very unlikely.

According to the new leak, OnePlus 6T will sport a 6.4-inch Optic AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 6 and the smartphone comes with a screen-to-body ratio of 86%. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with Adreno 630 GPU, OnePlus 6T will come with 8GB of RAM. Although we are expecting other RAM options, till now, there is no word on them. The device will feature dual rear cameras with 16MP and 20MP sensors, both of which come with

f/1.7 aperture. For selfies and video calls, there will be a 20MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture on the front panel. The camera app that has feature like Face Unlock, HDR, OIS, Panorama mode, and more.

The leak further reveals the device to come with 128GB storage and house 3,700mAh battery.

Things that have been confirmed by the company include the presence of an in-display fingerprint sensor, the fact that OnePlus 6T would replace its 3.5mm headphone jack with a Type-C port and also that it would not be dust or water resistant as it will come without an IP rating. OnePlus 6T will also have no support for wireless charging. A camera sample clicked from the phone was also shared by the company’s CEO on Weibo a few days back.

OnePlus 6T is all set to launch globally on October 29 and in India on October 30. It is worth noticing that the company preponed its global event, which was earlier scheduled for October 30, so that it doesn’t clash with Apple’s even on the same day.

Image courtesy: Ishan Agarwal’s Twitter profile

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Apple iPhone XR is set to go on sale in India today: 5 launch offers that you can avail

Avani Bagga

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Oct 26, 2018

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Apple iPhone XR is set to go on sale in India today: 5 launch offers that you can avail

The ‘affordable’ smartphone in Apple’s this year’s flagship lineup, iPhone XR, is set to go on sale in India at 6PM today. So if you want to buy a new iPhone but found the pricing of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max to be too high, then iPhone XR is the smartphone for you. It is going on sale in India in the first wave and it will also be launched in 50 other countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, New Zealand, France, Hong Kong, Greece, etc. iPhone XR has been up for pre-orders on a number of platforms since October 19.

You can buy the iPhone XR on Flipkart, Airtel Online Store and Jio’s website, or, if you prefer to shop for your gadgets offline, you can head to the likes of IndiaiStore, iWorld, Unicorn, and Imagine.

Although it is available at a lesser price than iPhone XS, the two smartphones do have some common specifications including the A12 Bionic processor and the primary camera. However, it comes with an LCD Liquid Retina display instead of iPhone XS’ OLED one and comes with only one camera at the back. Here’s a look at the pricing details and launch offers you can avail if you want to buy the device.

iPhone XR price in India

The iPhone XR mobile comes in three storage variants in the country. The base model, that comes with 64GB storage, is priced at Rs 76,900, the 128GB storage varinat bears a price tag of Rs 81,900 and the most high-end version, with 256GB of storage, costs Rs 91,900. Customers will have a number of colour options to choose from including Black, Blue, Coral, PRODUCT (RED), White, and Yellow.

iPhone XR launch offers in India

In This Article

IndiaiStore

Apple‘s official offline partner in India, IndiaiStore, is offering no-cost EMI plans with Bajaj FinServ, a 5% cashback for Citibank credit card and Axis Bank credit/debit card holders who choose EMI plans and 5x reward points on non-EMI purchases made via Citibank or Axis Bank credit cards.

Airtel Online Store

You can also pick the iPhone XR from Airtel Online Store with a down payment of Rs 14,999. If you are looking to reduce your monthly tariff plans, you can opt for bundled postpaid plans that the telecom major is offering.

Jio.com

Jio’s scheme is similar to that of Airtel. It is also offering a 5% cashback on purchases made via Citibank/Axis Bank credit cards (with EMI plans) and a 5x reward points for non-EMI, regular purchases paid for by Citibank/Axis Bank credit cards.

Vodafone and Idea Cellular

Vodafone and Idea announced the availability of iPhone XR today and along with it, they revealed that they have certain offers for Vodafone Red and Idea Nirvana customers. If you have a rental plan of Rs 499 or above, you are eligible for buying the new iPhone on Vodafone or Idea’s official website and get it delivered to yourself within 48 hours post the sale begins. However, it is worth noticing that this is applicable only in select cities. Customers who buy the iPhone XR via Vodafone or Idea’s website will also get a 20% rental discount for a year.

Flipkart

If you choose to shop for iPhone XR on Flipkart, you can avail an exchange offer of up to Rs 16,000 with no-cost EMI that starts at Rs 2,555/month.

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WhatsApp ‘picks up’ another feature from Snapchat: 10 things to know

Avani Bagga

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Oct 26, 2018

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WhatsApp ‘picks up’ another feature from Snapchat: 10 things to know

A much awaited feature has finally come to WhatsApp. No, we are not talking about the vacation and silent modes or the update in Delete for Everyone that was recently reported about. We are talking about Stickers that have been long-awaited by users of the app. The company has started rolling out the feature with which we can add more fun elements to our chats. They are the same kind of stickers that we have sent on Snapchat to our friends or used in Instagram Stories. Going forward, you shall also be able to send them to your friends while chatting with them on WhatsApp. Here are 10 things you must know about WhatsApp’s latest feature:

In This Article

Not available to all WhatsApp users yet

As of now, the stickers on WhatsApp are only available in Beta version of the app. If you have an Android smartphone, you need to have the beta version 2.18.239 of WhatsApp and iPhone users should update their WhatsApp Beta to version 2.18.100 in order to get the feature. Android users who can’t wait to use these stickers and are willing to become a beta tester of WhatsApp for them, can head straight to the app on Google Play Store. On scrolling down past the description and ‘Similar Apps’ section on Play Store they would see a panel that says ‘Become a Beta tester’. Select the ‘I’m in’ option, and when asked to confirm, press ‘Join’. In the next few hours, you would receive an update saying that you have become a beta tester of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp gets a dedicated Sticker Store

Like emojis and GIFs have their own separate section on WhatsApp, so do stickers. If you are a Beta user of the app, you can access the Stickers Store on WhatsApp by clicking on the emoji button on the chat bar and then the sticker button on the bottom bar. It is a square icon with rounded corners and on the Android app, it is placed right next to the GIF button.

You will get 12 sticker packs for free

Once you open the Sticker Store of WhatApp, you will see that ‘Cuppy’ stickers are available to you by default. On pressing the ‘+’ icon on the top right of the chat bar, you’ll be taken to a new tab called ‘All Stickers’. Here, there are 11 more sticker kinds that you can download for free. These include Cuppy by Minseung Song, Salty by Alisa Keyzhanovaska, Komo by Sanat Rath, Bibimbap Friends by Pete Ellison, Unchi & Rollie by nu1t, Shiba Inu by Aiko Kuninoi, The Maladroits by Cole Ott, Koko by Hanasake Pictures Inc, Hatch by Hatch, Fearless and Fabulous by Ann Shen, Banan by Jayde Fish and Biscuit by Ghostbot.

You can mark your favourite stickers

If you particularly love a sticker and don’t want to look for it each time you wish to use it; you can mark it as a favourite. For marking a sticker as your favourite, just long press on it in the Sticker Store. On doing this, WhatsApp will ask you if you would like to add it to your favourites and give two options – Cancel and Add. Select ‘Add’ and the sticker will get added to your Favourite tab which can be accessed by pressing the star icon on the top bar of your Sticker Section.

There is a tab that classifies stickers

Right next to the Favourites tab on your Sticker Section, there is a tab that has a heart icon on top. If you click on the heart, you will see that it automatically expands to show four icons – one of a sticker with a smile, one with the heart, one with a sad face and the last one with an exclamation mark. Here, you can find different stickers on the basis these different emotions. For instance, if you wish to tell your friend on chat that you are shocked by what they said, you need to go to the exclamation sticker in this tab. This reminded us of a similar tab we have used in Snapchat that classifies various Bitmoji stickers on the basis of emotions too.

You can check for recently used stickers

Did you just use a sticker that you really like but forgot to mark it as a favourite? No problem, you can still find it easily by clicking on the Clock icon on the top left of the cha bar in the Sticker Store. This is similar to finding recently used emojis on WhatsApp.

You can download new stickers

If the 12 free sticker packs that are available for free on WhatsApp not enough for you, you can download more. Click on the ‘+’ icon on the top right of the Sticker Store, go to ‘All Stickers’ and scroll down to the bottom. The Android app has an option ‘Get More Stickers’. On pressing this, you will be taken to Google Play Store where you can download additional stickers of your choice. Alternatively, just go straight to the Play Store and search for ‘WhatsApp Stickers’ to look for more sticker options for WhatsApp.

Available for WhatsApp Web

WhatsApp’s Sticker feature will be available for WhatsApp Web as well, provided the app is updated to the latest beta version.

Will be rolled out in a phased manner

As we mentioned earlier, the Sticker feature will be available for both Android and iOS versions of the app. Currently, it is in the Beta version of the app, but when it becomes available to all users, it will be rolled out in a phased manner, like most other WhatsApp features. So don’t worry if your friend gets it and you don’t.

The feature is already available on a few ‘rival’ apps

If you have been using other apps like Snapchat and Telegram, you would know that Stickers is hardly a new feature. On Snapchat, you cannot only send stickers, but Bitmoji too while you are texting your friends. The app also lets you make your own stickers out of pictures. On Telegram, an instant messaging app that has been gaining a lot of popularity off late, users are given suggestions of what stickers they can use on the basis of the emoji they select to send. So, if you choose the heart-eye emoji, the app will prompt you with various options of different stickers expressing the same emotion to send instead. Stickers are available on Instagram too, but can only be used in Stories.

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[Video] Lego Boost Unboxing And First Impressions: Children Will Love It

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Gadget Bridge Bureau

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Oct 26, 2018

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[Video] Lego Boost Unboxing And First Impressions: Children Will Love It

Priced at Rs 13,999 on Amazon and Rs 10,000 on Flipkart, Lego Boost is the new tech toy by Lego in India. In this unboxing we show you what is inside the box and also how the app is used to make a Lego robot and its workings. Our first impressions are included too.

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This woman may have to pay over $1.6 million for using iPhone X

Avani Bagga

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Oct 25, 2018

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This woman may have to pay over $1.6 million for using iPhone X

Russian politician, TV anchor, journalist, socialite and actress Kseniya Sobchak is reportedly paying Samsung $1.6 million for using her iPhone X. If that left you confused, you should probably know that she was hired by Samsung to market their smartphones in her country by using them in public.

When an agreement of such sorts is struck between companies and influential people, they are usually not allowed to use the company’s competitors’ products when they are making a public appearance.

According to a report in The Mirror, Sobchak used an Apple iPhone X during a television interview. She was also seen trying to conceal her iPhone X with a sheet of paper. But she did it while the camera was on. It has been reported that this is not the first time that Sobchak has been spotted using the iPhone X. It is said that she was seen using the smartphone social events in Moscow and a few other TV appearances. And this goes against the rules of the contract.

Since she has been spotted with the smartphone a number of times, Samsung has reportedly sued Sobchak for 108 million rubles. Converted to US dollar, the amount is around $1.6 million, and in local currency, it is Rs 12,07,58,357.

Although the amount that Samsung initially paid to Sobchak has not been disclosed, it is being said that the amount that is being recovered from her is more in value.

However, a report in BBC states that Samsung has not sued Sobchak. According to a source who spoke to BBC, Sobchak uses an iPhone sometimes, but always tries not to show Samsung’s rival brand in front of the camera by using a folder or a cover on her smartphone.

A representative from Samsung has reportedly said “All speculations on the lawsuits and fines are frivolous and nothing more than rumors. We do not comment on rumors.”

In a conversation with RBC, Sobchak’s representative neither confirmed nor denied if Samsung wants to recover a certain amount of money from the Russian TV anchor and politician for using iPhone X while she was on camera.

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IMC 2018: Airtel showcases connected homes to self-driving drones

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Gadget Bridge Bureau

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Oct 25, 2018

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IMC 2018: Airtel showcases connected homes to self-driving drones

Telecom major Bharti Airtel today unveiled a slew of futuristic 5G use cases at India Mobile Congress 2018. The digital technologies showcased by Airtel include a connected home, connected car, BVLOS autonomous drone, and more.

The products are a part of the company’s Airtel 3.0 vision under which it aims to build networks and services that enrich lives of its customers. The telecom major said in a statement that it has set up an Airtel X Labs in Bengaluru which is meant for building 5G use cases for India and the world.

At India Mobile Congress 2018, the company has showcased Airtel Connected Home, which is basically a “life size replica of a modern connected home with intelligent devices and appliances”. It uses Home IoT and is powered by 1Gbps V-Fiber link.

Besides Airtel Connected Home, the telecom company also showcased its upcoming Android DTH STB. According to Airtel, Android DTH STB “brings the world of digital content to the home”. The company has also said that it will act as the home IoT gateway. Airtel has also developed a multi-screen video platform which enables users to play content across devices.

Speaking of Airtel Connected Cars, the company claimed that they show “how IoT can empower drivers through auto telemetry, which will capture and push data related to key parameters of the car and its functioning in real time.”

The telecom major has also announced a partnership with Huawei to build AR based Holographic Communication for 5G. Apart from this, both the companies together showcased a virtual iPAD which, as the name suggests, is a VR project by both. The virtual iPAD enables users to play games like Candy Crush Saga on a virtual screen using Oculus headset.

Airtel has also partnered with Nokia and it demonstrated a “Virtual Reality based 360-degree content like under sea experience.”

In collaboration with Ericsson, Airtel showcased Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) autonomous drones for “next generation e-delivery services over 5G networks.” It is basically a self-driving drone that will reach locations quickly without remote based piloting. The company has said that the drone can also be used for mission-critical applications such as disaster response & monitoring, emergency delivery services and remote surveillance.

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Infinix Hot S3X with 4,000mAh battery launched in India: Price, specs and more

Gadget Bridge Bureau

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Oct 25, 2018

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Infinix Hot S3X with 4,000mAh battery launched in India: Price, specs and more

Transsion Holdings-owned smartphone maker Infinix has launched its Hot S3X smartphone in India. As the name suggests, Infinix Hot S3X is the successor of company’s Hot S3 smartphone that was launched earlier this year. The newly launched smartphone comes with a number of improved features including a dual camera setup on its back panel and its selfie camera is enhanced with artificial intelligence. The smartphone is set to go on sale in India early next month. Here are the specifications and pricing details of the Infinix Hot S3X smartphone:

Infinix Hot S3X price in India

Infinix Hot S3X mobile comes in only one variant with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage and has been priced at Rs 9,999. At the said price, it competes with the likes of Nokia 3.1 Plus and the recently launched Asus Zenfone Max M1 and Asus Zenfone Lite L1. Infinix Hot S3X smartphone will be sold exclusively on Flipkart next month as a part of the e-commerce giant’s ‘Big Diwali Sale’. If you are an interested buyer, you should know that the sale is scheduled between November 1 and November 5. The smartphone is available in three colour options, namely Ice Blue, Sandstone Black, and Tradewinds Grey.

Infinix Hot S3X specifications

Coming to the specifications of the smartphone, Infinix Hot S3X is a dual SIM smartphone that features a 6.2-inch HD+ LCD display with an aspect ratio of 18.75:9. The display of the smartphone comes with a screen to body ratio of 86% and 500nits brightness. Infinix Hot S3X is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor clubbed with 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 505 GPU. The smartphone has 32GB of storage onboard and can hold a microSD of up to 128GB.

For imaging duties, Infinix Hot S3X sports a dual rear camera setup with 13MP and 2MP sensors, both of which come with an f/2.0 aperture. If you are a selfie lover, you will get a 16MP selfie camera with 4-in-1 big pixel.

On connectivity front, the smartphone has support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, a micro-USB port and a 3.5mm jack. The smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo skinned with a custom XOS and houses a 4,000mAh battery. There is also a fingerprint sensor to unlock the device.

At a glance, all the specifications of the Infinix Hot S3X are:

6.2-inch HD+ LCD display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
Can hold microSD cards of up to 128GB
13MP+2MP dual rear cameras
16MP selfie camera
Android 8.1 Oreo with XOS
4,000mAh battery.

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This is the most sold smartphone in the premium segment in India

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Avani Bagga

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Oct 25, 2018

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This is the most sold smartphone in the premium segment in India

The premium smartphone market in India saw a number of new players this year. A number of companies whose smartphones usually do well in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment, launched their premium devices with prices starting from Rs 30,000. These included Vivo, Oppo, Huawei, Asus and LG. While some of these smartphones were appreciated, others couldn’t make a mark.

Coming to the smartphone that swept away the most number of sales in the premium segment, it is OnePlus 6. Counterpoint has also said that OnePlus 6 captured 30% of the market and credit for this can be given to positive word of mouth and the company’s social media strategy. OnePlus 6 has also become the highest selling flagship model for the company within five months of its launch. It is the second successive quarter in which OnePlus has managed to lead the said segment.

According to Counterpoint, the premium smartphone market reached an all-time high in Q3 2018 and a major chunk of sales were that of Samsung, Apple and OnePlus — 83% to be precise. It is worth noticing that the contribution of the three players has fallen since Q2 2018, when they dominated 88% of the sales in the premium smartphone segment.

Coming back to OnePlus 6, the smartphone not just faced competition from devices made by players like Samsung and Apple, but a number of others we talked about earlier. Some of these smartphones were Vivo Nex, Oppo Find X, Huawei Nova 3, Asus Zenfone 5Z and LG G7+ ThinQ.

OnePlus was followed by Samsung, which captured 28% of the premium segment with its Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy A8 Star smartphones. While Samsung Galaxy Note 9 grabbed the second spot, Galaxy A8 Star stood on third.

Speaking of Apple, it captured 25% of premium market share in Q3 2018, with the launch of its latest flagship smartphones iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. From these numbers, it seems like the fact that iPhone costs a lot more in India than other key countries because of the high import duties doesn’t really affect Apple fans in the country.

In Q4 2018, OnePlus would face a tougher competition from Apple as it relatively affordable iPhone XR has now been launched in India. Some devices from the Cupertino based technology giant also saw a price cut with the recent festive season sales. But then, on the other hand, OnePlus 6T is a much awaited device and OnePlus is also expanding its sales through offline channels to reach out to larger potential user base.

We don’t know who will capture the segment in Q4, but we can definitely say that rivalry between the key companies competing is set to get fiercer. Will it mean more lucrative deals for customers? We will have to wait to see.

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48 ‘tracking’ apps that you need to uninstall right now

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Aadvika

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Oct 25, 2018

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48 ‘tracking’ apps that you need to uninstall right now

A rather shocking report by Buzzfeed has exposed a multi-million dollar scam that is being controlled by a network of shell companies in eastern Europe. These companies were using a front called We Purchase Apps to acquire Android apps from their developers and soon gained control over 125 apps available on Google Play Store. According to data from AppBrain, the combined downloads of these Android apps are 115 million and the app among these 125 that has the most downloads is EverythingMe Launcher. Going by what cybersecurity firm Protected Media has to say, these apps tracked user behaviour and then used this information to model a massive network of botnets that pretended to be human users. Their network of bots even bypassed the fraud detection tools that are used by advertisers and Google to stay away from scams like these. By doing this, We Purchase Apps was able to show a huge user base of the apps to advertisers – which led them to make $700 million to $800 million in the first quarter of the year alone.

Buzzfeed has provided the list of apps and websites that have been affected to Google, and the company’s independent analysis confirmed the presence of botnet driven traffic. The technology giant has so far deleted over 30 of these apps from Google Play Store. Google has also said that it had removed 10 apps in the scheme and blocked a number of websites even before Buzzfeed contacted them. Investigations are being carried on at Google regarding this matter. Till all of these mobile apps that are tracking user behaviour are removed, you must uninstall them from your smartphone immediately.

Here’s a list of apps that, according to Buzzfeed, are tracking the behaviour of its users:

In This Article

EverythingMe Launcher

Number of downloads: 10,000,000+

Google Play Store link: EverythingMe Launcher

Dropwords and Dropwords PRO

Number of downloads:

Dropwords: 5,000,000+

Dropwords PRO: 10,000+

Google Play Store links: Dropwords

Dropwords PRO

Muscle Drift Simulator 2018 and Muscle Drift Simulator 2018 Pro

Number of downloads:

Muscle Drift Simulator 2018: 1,000,000+

Muscle Drift Simulator 2018 Pro: 100+

Google Play Store links: Muscle Drift Simulator 2018

Muscle Drift Simulator 2018 Pro

Carry Over The Hill and Carry Over The Hill – Space

Number of downloads:

Carry Over The Hill: 1,000,000+

Carry Over The Hill: Space: 500,000+

Google Play Store links: Carry Over The Hill

Carry Over The Hill – Space