iPhone XS Max catches fire, owner planning to sue Apple: Report
The year certainly wasn’t a good one for Apple. After seeing a drop in sales in various parts of the world including India and having some iPhones banned in China and Germany, it seems like the Cupertino based technology giant will have to look at another pressing matter. A new report has surfaced online which claims that an iPhone XS Max, owned by Ohio-based man Josh Hillard, caught fire and exploded while it was inside his pants.
According to iDrop News, the rather shocking incident took place on December 12 when Hillard was near Columbus, Ohio. Hillard said that he noticed thick smoke coming from his iPhone XS Max and also suddenly started feeling a “large amount of heat” clubbed with a burning sensation on his skin. He reportedly rushed and took off his pants where he had placed his iPhone XS Max and a fire extinguisher had to be used to put out the flames of the burning smartphone.
Hillard said that he took the remains of his burnt iPhone XS Max to an Apple Store on the same day, but he wasn’t provided satisfactory customer service. It has been reported that he was made to answer questions for nearly 20 minutes by an employee at the Apple Store and then had to wait for 40 minutes before he could return his iPhone to the company.
Hillard claims that the Apple Store manager told him that his iPhone XS Max had to go to the company’s engineering team for analysis, as that was the only way for him to get his smartphone replaced.
After this, he returned home and called the Apple Care to inform them about the entire incident. While Apple did provide Hillard with a replacement unit, he feels that this does not make up for what happened to him. Hillard is also seeking compensation for his clothes and shoes that were damaged and also for the wireless service which he couldn’t use while he was being questioned by Apple employees.
The report in iDrop News says that Hillard plans to file a lawsuit against Apple. As of now, Apple has not commented on any issue regarding iPhone XS Max exploding. There is also no clarity on what made the iPhone catch fire in this case, but we’ll update you if and when we get to know.
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Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi Mix 4 might come with triple rear cameras and a Snapdragon 855 chipset
What a year end it has been, with a plethora of leaks this December, another one has come to light. The upcoming Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi Mix 4 are leaked to have triple rear cameras. This has been tipped by a research note from GF Securities of Hong Kong. In their performance market report, they said that Mi 9 would be the first smartphone have triple rear cameras by the company. In terms of the Mi 4, it is going to have a periscope lens that will allow greater optical zoom. Moreover, this smartphone won’t be needing more space in the chassis (at least on the thickness axis).
Both phones have been leaked to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor. The fact that both these phones will have the latest CPU is not surprising because they will be Xiaomi’s flagship devices. Rumours say, that the Mi 9 will have 5G connectivity too, so the ones who will possess the MI Mix 3 won’t be the only ones to be privileged with 5G.
Recently, another Xiaomi phone, the Poco F2 was leaked on Geekbench, along with its specifications. The phone is supposed to run Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box skinned with Xiaomi’s latest MIUI 10 update. The phone evidently will have Snapdragon 855 processor considering that its predecessor, the Poco F1, is powered by a Snapdragon 845 SoC.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 was accidentally listed on Flipkart a few days ago and Flipkart did not rectify this mistake until 15-year old tipster, Ishan Agarwal tweeted about it. The device will probably be powered by a Snapdragon 636 Processor. The screen resolution of the smartphone will be 2,280×1,080pixels and will come with an aspect ratio of 19:9.
Two RAM variants include 4GB and 6GB with an internal storage of 64GB. The device would be powered by a 4,000mAh battery. As far as the rear camera arrangement is concerned, this mobile will have 12MP and 5MP dual rear cameras. The 4GB and 6GB RAM variants will come for a price of Rs 13,999 and Rs 15,999 respectively. In the recent turn of events, we have noticed a lot of phone leaks of the Chinese smartphone brands. Now we only need to see when they come to life and if they meet consumer expectations when they are launched.
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How to click the perfect selfie in any type of light conditions
Selfie, a millennial fad which was named as the word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries in the year 2013, has indubitably ginger up the social media. No second thought about its popularity, which comes to in play in any smartphone in a form of some fancy application. We love to click a self-portrait snap and post it on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and a plethora of such apps, which are gushed with a myriad of selfies everyday. What else could be better than expressing yourself with a single click from your smartphone camera? Noted, no aid requisite. An alternative to this joy has not been found yet. But, the question is how to click a perfect selfie, that would help you stand out of the crowd? Fret not, we are here to help you out with the same. And no matter if you are old or new to the selfie game, the following tips will help you along the way to become a selfie expert, just like Karan Johar.
In This Article
Defining perspective:
Indeed, a picture is worth a thousand words. The perspective of the photo defines the subject. A low angle shot, with the camera below eye level, makes you look dominating and authoritative while a high angle shot, with the camera above eye level, makes you look meek. Notice, a shot from eye level makes the photo look more realistic, while the prior two are used to add a dramatic twist to your photo. Test each shot out and pick the best one that suits your style.Playing with lights:
A studio light setup is not always available to us. However, that does not mean you cannot use the regular room lights or a study lamp available around the house to shoot that coveted selfie. Points to remember, hard lights help in casting a sharp shadow, differentiating them with highlights, whereas soft lights help in making diffused shadow and smooth edges. Thus, avoid front flash when you want smooth edges in your photograph.Splash of colours:
The trending coloured LEDs, popularly known as fairy lights are widely used for bokeh, adding an aesthetic sense to the photograph. If you are taking a selfie with it, use of flashlight would add a different colour to the photo. Avoid them in such cases.Dealing with dim lights:
Always take a raw selfie. You may not like it at first place but editing it wisely will probably give you a better result. Editing a filtered selfie often end up with burned as well as blurred image. You surely don’t want to be trolled for a selfie failing to recognise you. Don’t you? Make sure you use flashlight sparingly.A perfect sun-kissed selfie:
To get that dreamy sun-kissed selfie always remember the source of light should be used to enhance not to burn the composition of your face. While taking selfie also ensure that the shadow of your hand should not cast on your face. If bearable as well as suitable, open your eyes and glee for a happy morning selfie face, for sure that could light up anybody’s day. Indubitably, taking a good selfie has never been a monotonous job, rather a hobby of many. It may get tricky sometimes to click a perfect selfie. However, forbidding your senses while taking a selfie might put you in trouble someday. Besides, never push yourself to smile, after all, it all about expressing yourself not pretending to be what you are not. Don’t forget trying the sassy pout(s). For inspiration check out some of the selfies taken by Shahrukh Khan or Karan Johar on Instagram. They are the pout masters! For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel.Google’s Android Messages app gets this much needed ‘Truecaller feature’
For months now, rumours about Google working on a spam protection feature for its Android Messages app have been surfacing online. And now, a report has emerged on Android Police that says that Google has started rolling out the spam protection feature to some of its users. After testing it for a few days, the company will roll the feature out to the masses.
As of now, it is being said that it is a server-end rollout of the spam protection feature. So, when your device gets the feature, you will be informed about it via a notification message. To manually activate the feature, you can head to the Settings of your smartphone, then select the option of Advanced Settings and then choose Spam Protection. You need to make sure that this option is enabled in order to make the spam protection feature work in Android Messages.
Post this, the feature will start alerting you about spam messages that you receive. Personally, we think that this is a much-needed feature as currently, our Android Messages app is full of spam messages, and we are sure that a majority of the people would agree with us on this.
It is also worth noticing that a section was discovered on Google’s support help site some time back which is said to have gone live prematurely. The section explained how the new spam protection feature will function while keeping the user’s privacy intact. According to Google’s support help website, on enabling the feature some information about the messages will be sent to the company. However, the company has assured users that the content of their messages like the phone number or the message body will not be read.
When users enable the feature, they will see this alert message beneath the Enable Spam Protection toggle. However, we should also point out that it has not been explained how this feature works at the back-end. But then, it is worth noticing that if you report spam messages manually, the entire message will be submitted to Google including the phone numbers and the contents of the message reported.
Although the feature sounds to be a useful one, if you are someone who is concerned about your data on the Messages app, you would rather keep the spam protection feature off. Till we get some more details about how this feature works, it’s a tough choice that we have to make between privacy and spam.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Android Pie update is expected to come on January 15
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 beta program is ongoing and Samsung released a new Note 9 beta update recently. Therefore, it is safe say that the January update which Samsung had planned for Galaxy Note 9 seems to be on track. According to Samsung Turkey, users will have the update in their phone by January 15.
The Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8 will receive Android Pie update exactly a month after Note 9 update, that is 15th February. Samsung Turkey usually changes its update roadmaps. And considering that it was very fast in rolling out the update for the Galaxy S9, it lays more weight to the speculation that the Android Pie for Note 9 is going to roll out by mid-January.
To recall its specifications, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes with a super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The screen is 6.4-inch wide and it has a resolution of 1,440x,2960 pixels. The smartphone is protected by a corning gorilla glass 5. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor in some parts of the world while others have it running Exynos 9810 chipset. This is combined with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage with the option to expand it further using a microSD card.
The dual rear camera setup on this smartphone comprises of two 12MP sensors and the front camera is powered by an 8MP sensor meant for selfies. Connectivity options of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 include WiFi 802.11, hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and USB 3.1. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 houses a non-removable battery of 4,000mAh and comes in a lot of colour options. Price of the mobile is Rs 67,900 on Indian e-commerce stores. It has many sensors which include iris scanner, fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate and SpO2. Also, messaging options include SMS, MMS, Email, push Email and IM.
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Samsung Galaxy A50 to house a 4,000mAh battery: Report
South Korean technology giant Samsung’s upcoming smartphone Galaxy A50 will house a massive 4,000mAh battery, according to a new report that has surfaced online. The report also says that Samsung Galaxy A50 will sport a 24MP primary camera. However, there is no information about other shooters on its back panel.
Furthermore, it has also been revealed that Samsung Galaxy A50 smartphone will be powered by the company’s own Exynos 7 9610 processor, which comes with a CPU with four Cortex-A73 cores and four A53s. The smartphone is said to have 4GB of RAM clubbed with either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. The upcoming offering by Samsung will run Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box.
While the reported battery capacity of the smartphone is good, it is lesser than the 5,000mAh battery that we will see in the company’s Galaxy M20 handset. Another thing we can derive from the specifications is that Galaxy A50 will be launched after the Galaxy S10 smartphones. This is because Samsung usually launches its flagship devices with the new Android version first and the rest of its smartphones follow. This is particularly true for mid-range smartphones from Samsung, and Galaxy A50 happens to be one of them.
Although we fully expect it to be launched in the first half of 2019, picking out a particular month will be tough right now. We would have to wait to know more about the launch date of the device.
Samsung’s Galaxy A50 smartphone is also expected to come with wireless charging as well as an in-display fingerprint scanner, as the company has said that it plans to bring the two technologies to its mid-tier devices. However, it has also been reported that the fingerprint sensor the company will use would be optical in nature and not ultrasonic.
While we have seen optical fingerprint sensors in the likes of Vivo Nex, Oppo Find X and OnePlus 6T smartphones, we will get to see an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner in Samsung Galaxy S10. An interesting fact that has been reported about Samsung Galaxy S10 is that 30% of its screen will be covered with the fingerprint sensor. So, touching anywhere on that area of the display will unlock the device. This is something we are really looking forward to using when the smartphone launches next year.
Image courtesy: GalaxyClub
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Samsung’s Galaxy A50 smartphone is also expected to come with wireless charging as well as an in-display fingerprint scanner, as the company has said that it plans to bring the two technologies to its mid-tier devices. However, it has also been reported that the fingerprint sensor the company will use would be optical in nature and not ultrasonic.
While we have seen optical fingerprint sensors in the likes of Vivo Nex, Oppo Find X and OnePlus 6T smartphones, we will get to see an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner in Samsung Galaxy S10. An interesting fact that has been reported about Samsung Galaxy S10 is that 30% of its screen will be covered with the fingerprint sensor. So, touching anywhere on that area of the display will unlock the device. This is something we are really looking forward to using when the smartphone launches next year.
Image courtesy: GalaxyClub
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Netflix in-app subscriptions to be discontinued for new and old iOS consumers
Netflix has decided to stop its in-app subscriptions from now on. The reason being, it is finding very inconvenient that Apple takes a chunk of the profits which the app developer earns from subscriptions made by iOS users. To quote Netflix, it “no longer support(s) iTunes as a method of payment for new members.”
From now on, iOS Netflix users have to subscribe to it through a web browser. They would no longer be able to pay for subscriptions on the basis of the app. The current users can still access the app to pay for a few billing periods. However, new subscribers and subscribers who stopped subscribing but are planning to return, cannot use the app based subscription anymore.
This is a bit sad for users as they could use the Apple billing info to pay for subscriptions until now. This was a very convenient process. Earlier, Netflix was obliged to pay 30 percent of its yearly revenue to Apple. This share declined to a 15 percent eventually.
The backdrop being that app developers complained about Apple’s massive demands on their profits. And this led to the implementation of the 2016 policy that allowed them greater share in their profits. Netflix’s decision is not a new story considering that Spotify has also removed its in-app subscriptions to evade Apple’s share of its revenue.
App developers have been complaining about enormous demands they encounter on their revenue in the Apple ecosystem. This is not the first time Netflix is stopping its in-app subscriptions. Earlier it stopped in-app subscriptions through Google Play, which fed on a certain chunk of its money. Google has faced quite a lot of criticism because of this. Also, Epic games, the developer of Fortnite maintains its distance from Google Play in order to maximize its profits.
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Essential phone to be discontinued, however Essential is making a new one
The Essential phone is being discontinued as announced by the company yesterday. A source has spotted that the phone is no longer available on the website. However, there is some good news in store for you. Despite Essential cancelling its previous phone, the company is planning to manufacture a new one. This one in all likelihood would use AI to answer emails and text messages.
An Essential spokeswoman talked about the launch of this new phone whose did not want to be named. Here is what she said, “We are sold out of Essential Phone on essential.com and won’t be adding any new inventory. We are now hard at work on our next mobile product and will continue to sell accessories and provide speedy software updates and customer support to our existing community.”
The company has experienced many changes and due to many reasons, its success declined. This includes poor initial sales, camera woes, layoffs. There have been serious scandals like data breach and even worse, alleged sexual harassment charges against Essentials founder, Andy Rubin. Moreover, in one instance, the Essential Phone 2 had been shelved and the company was almost sold.
In spite of such losses it made a comeback by launching software updates regularly for the Essential phone faster than its competitors. It provided major discounts to attract more customers and launched a snap-on $149 headphone jack accessory.
Now that the phone has been discontinued, we are anticipating what the new one has got to show us. The company hasn’t yet announced its launch date and we are waiting for when tipsters are going to leak its information.
To recall, the Essential Phone came in a single 4GB RAM variant with 128GB internal storage. There is a single rear camera of 13MP and a front 8MP camera meant for selfies. Connectivity options included WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth 5.0, hotspot, GPS, NFC and USB Type-C. It has an LCD capacitive touchscreen that is protected by a corning Gorilla Glass 5. Dimensions of the smartphone were 141.5×71.1×7.8mm and it weighs 185grams.
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Last few days to get your iPhone battery replaced by Apple at Rs 1,500: All that you should know
We all remember Apple admitting to slowing down its older iPhones to prevent unexpected shutdowns. Following the public outrage, the company had slashed the prices of replacing iPhone batteries that were out of warranty. While normally the price of getting an iPhone battery that’s not in warranty replaced is nearly Rs 6,500, for a limited time, it could be done for Rs 1,995.
However, that limited time is now about to be over as the deadline for getting these batteries replaced at a discounted price is December 31, 2018. So if you have an iPhone that has an out-of-warranty battery that is eligible to be replaced, we recommend you should do it within the next three days.
You can book an appointment online at Apple website to get your battery replaced and then visit the nearest Apple service centre to get the battery of your iPhone replaced. Even if you go to a service centre without booking an online appointment, it shouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but you may have to wait longer.
Your iPhone will first undergo some diagnostic checks and will be inspected for physical damage. If it clears these tests, only then will you be able to get the battery of your iPhone replaced. However, that too wouldn’t happen immediately. You will get a call from the Apple service centre within the next 2-3 days and you will have to visit the centre once again. On visiting the centre, you will be able to get your iPhone’s battery replaced within an hour or so.
The smartphones which are eligible for the out-of-warranty battery replacement programme by Apple include iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. If you have any of these iPhones and you think that it needs a battery replacement, head to the nearest Apple service centre now and get it replaced before the deadline approaches.
As we mentioned earlier, you can avail the discount on getting the out-of-warranty batteries replaced till December 31, 2018, which is the day after tomorrow. After that, it will again cost you Rs 6,500 to get your iPhone’s battery replaced, whereas now, you can get it for just Rs 1,995.
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