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Samsung Galaxy A80, Galaxy A70 price and launch date in India revealed
Samsung has today announced that its Galaxy A70 smartphone will be launched in India next week, while Galaxy A80 will arrive in May. The South Korean technology giant has also revealed the price of smartphones in India. The company is targetting $4 billion (approximately Rs 27,700 crores) in revenue from its Galaxy A series during this year, according to a top official from the company.
Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Samsung India said to IANS, “We will launch the Galaxy A70 in India next week in the Rs 25,000 – Rs 30,000 bracket and the Galaxy A80 in the Rs 45,000 – Rs 50,000 bracket in May.”
Samsung Galaxy A70 features a 6.7-inch Infinity U display, houses a 4,500mAh battery that has support for 25W Super-Charging fast charging technology and sports a triple rear camera setup.
Samsung Galaxy A80, on the other hand, has a rotating triple camera setup and is the first device from the company to come with a full-screen display.
Considering that Samsun is facing stiff competition from Chinese smartphone players in India, it has decided to price its Galaxy A series of smartphones in India between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000.
Speaking further about the range, Singh said, “We are targeting $4 billion from the Galaxy A series over the calendar year. Just in the first 40 days starting March 1, we have sold a total of two million units of three Galaxy ‘A’ models in India — A50, A30, and A10. The revenue turnover from these three phones in 40 days is $500 million. I think this is a record for any brand in the industry. When the rest of the portfolio in the Galaxy A-series becomes available we are sure of not only achieving but exceeding our target.”
Singh also added that Galaxy A series of smartphones will remain available across online as well as offline channels.
The company had previously said that it would be launching at least one Galaxy A series smartphone every month from March to June this year.
Singh also told IANS that Samsung keeps on evolving its portfolio according to what a consumer wants. He said, “The portfolio is ever-evolving with the consumer. To hit $4 billion revenue I will have to look at every opportunity. We will come up with the right opportunity for the range you are referring to (the Rs 30,000-Rs 45,000 segment). Just because we have not announced the Galaxy A-series phone in this range in India, does not mean we are not working on it. We are going to ship out Galaxy A2 core this week at Rs. 5,290. This is going to be a tremendous boost to people who want to switch from feature phones to smartphones. This is going to be huge in terms of volume.”
Update: Samsung Galaxy A70 has now launched in India. Read more about its pricing and specifications here.
Panasonic launches its LUMIX S1 and LUMIX S1R full-frame mirrorless cameras in India
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic has today launched its first full-frame mirrorless LUMIX S series in India. As a part of the series, the company has launched two camera models in India – LUMIX S1 and LUMIX S1R. While Panasonic LUMIX S1 costs Rs 1,99,990 and comes with a 24-105mm F4 lens, the LUMIX S1R costs Rs 2,99,990 (body only) and Rs 3,67,990 if you buy the 24-105mm F4 lens along with it.
While the Panasonic LUMIX S1 comes with a come with 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor, the LUMIX S1R camera has a 47.3MP full-frame CMOS sensor. Both the cameras are based on L-Mount standard, and according to the company, this means that the camera has an uncompromised imaging experience.
Speaking about the newly-launched cameras, Panasonic India’s Business Chief, Sandeep Sehgal said, “The new LUMIX S series boasts intuitive control, a rugged design for heavy-field use, durability and expandability, and is suitable for professional photography and videography. The LUMIX S Series showcases our commitment to India and we are extremely confident to achieve double-digit market share in the next two years.”
The company has claimed that Panasonic LUMIX S Series has an industry-leading video recording performance and an effective image stabilization. Furthermore, it is also supposed to give better results with rich gradation and superior colour reproduction.
Both the newly launched cameras offer a high-speed, high-precision AF system that is based on advanced control technology over the lens, the new ‘Venus Engine’ and the sensor. We should also point out that it is this that enables the user to capture the target in sharp focus using either of the two cameras.
Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia also spoke about the launch saying, “The imaging industry is a complex and demanding space and we have brought in defining changes by listening to our users and continuous investment in R&D to bring in industry-first technologies.”
The LUMIX S1R camera comes with a high-resolution mode and the company says that it is the first time that a mirrorless full-frame camera will be able to enable 187MP ultra-high precision picture with a pixel shift technology shooting.
The last few months have seen a number of launches from Panasonic but it has been quite a while since the company launched mirrorless cameras. Prior to this, the Japanese company was seen launching air conditioners in the country and other than that, it also expanded its Eluga range of smartphones.
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Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram suffer a brief outage, services working again now
Outages are becoming just as common for Facebook as data breaches. The social media giant, on Sunday, suffered its third major outage of this year and it left users all across the globe without access of its network. In fact, the outage, much like the previous one that the social media giant suffered, affected Facebook as well as its other services including Instagram and WhatsApp.
Facebook and Instagram were inaccessible again for several hours on Sunday and users could not refresh either of the two platforms. On the other hand, messages were not getting delivered on WhatsApp and Facebook’s Messenger app.
According to Downdetector, a website that tracks outages on various websites and platforms, Facebook was down starting Sunday at 6.30 am EDT, which is basically 4 pm IST. The outage primarily affected users in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
In an email that Facebook sent acknowledging the issue, a spokesperson said, “Earlier today, some people may have experienced trouble connecting to the family of apps. The issue has since been resolved; we’re sorry for any inconvenience.”
The outage continued for three hours and the services were only restored at 9.30 am in New York, which means 7 pm IST. However, it was long enough for users to take to Twitter to express what they felt about yet another outage on Facebook.
To recall, the first major outage that the company faced was in January when photo-sharing app Instagram crashed and WhatsApp users all across the world could not send or receive messages on the app. Following this, in March, Facebook suffered its most severe outage. The outage affected users across the globe and they couldn’t access Facebook and Instagram for a good 12 hours.
According to DownDetector, the Facebook and Instagram outages last month were spread across New England, Texas, Seattle, Washington, parts of Latin America, Peru, the UK, India, and the Philippines. However, media reports suggested that users in Canada, Las Vegas, and Turkey faced issues too.
In fact, in the last outage, WhatsApp and Messenger apps were also affected in various parts of the world and some users complained about not being able to use Oculus VR too. A number of users also took to social media to say that they couldn’t login to apps like Tinder using the social networking website.
And less than a month later, another outage affecting so many Facebook services happened again, however, luckily this time, it didn’t last for a month.
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Apple’s new 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs are now available for purchase in India: Get all the details here
This March was a happening month for Apple fans as the company upgraded a number of its products including AirPods, iPads and iMacs. Last week, the Cupertino-based technology giant made the newly launched iPad Air (2019) and iPad Mini 2019 available for purchase in India. And now, the company has made the new iMacs available in the country.
The two upgraded iMacs were launched by Apple last month and they come with 21.5-inch and 27-inch display sizes and have new processors and graphics cards. With the update, the Cupertino based technology company has promised a ‘2x performance boost’ on the new iMacs
Let’s talk about the smaller sibling first. The upgraded device that comes with a 21.5-inch display size is powered by a 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 or 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 processor and has a Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz.
Other than this, the device has 8GB of RAM and comes with 1TB (5400-rpm) of hard drive or 1TB Fusion Drive. The 21.5-inch device comes with a Radeon Pro 555X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory or Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. The iMac has a 21.5-inch LED-backlit Retina 4K display. Other features of the 21.5-inch iMac include four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2, Gigabit Ethernet, FaceTime HD camera, and macOS Mojave. We should also mention that the new iMac comes with a Magic Keyboard and has a Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2.
Speaking of the 27-inch model of the new device from Apple, it is powered by 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 or 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 processor and has a Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz. The upgraded iMac has 8GB of RAM and 1TB or 2TB Fusion Drive. It clubs Radeon Pro 570X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, Radeon Pro 575X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, and Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory.
The new iMac has 27-inch LED-backlit Retina 5K display. Other features of the new iMac include four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2, and support for FaceTime HD camera. The device runs macOS Mojave and comes with Magic Keyboard and has Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2.
Coming to the pricing of the two iMacs in India, the 21.5-inch device will cost Rs 1,19,900, while the bigger sibling with 27-inch screen bears a price tag of Rs 1,69,900.
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Moto G7 review: A budget smartphone that has the looks and brilliant gesture controls
Motorola launched its Moto G7 lineup in Brazil in February this year. The range comes with four smartphones including Moto G7, Moto G7 Plus, Moto G7 Power and Moto G7 Play. However, till now, only two have made their way to India – Moto G7 Power and the recently launched Moto G7.
The latter comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC, 4GB of RAM, Android 9.0 Pie and a 3,000mAh battery. For a budget smartphone, these specifications seem to be powerful. However, do they actually perform well when they come together in the Moto G7? We spent a few days with the smartphone and here’s our review of the same:
The handset is curved at its edges, which is a factor that really helps in one-handed usage.
Coming to Moto G7’s back panel, as we mentioned earlier, it is made up of glass. The back panel is what truly adds a premium look and feel to the smartphone. There are only two things on Moto G7’s back – the dual rear camera setup of the device and the Moto dimple.
The dual rear cameras of Moto G7 are placed inside a circular module that also has an LED flash inside it. Although it protrudes out like the camera modules found on previous Moto smartphones, it doesn’t stick out as much as the earlier ones did. The Moto dimple that lies right below it houses the fingerprint scanner of the smartphone. There’s one thing that we should mention though: The back panel is prone to getting fingerprint smudges, much like any other smartphone with a glass back. However, it is very easy to get rid of them too. Just one wipe with a piece of cloth and you’ll see them all disappear.
It is also worth adding that Moto G7 comes with P2i coating, which makes it water resistant. This is definitely a plus, considering the price segment, as it would keep your device safe in case it is accidentally hit by a splash of water. However, if you drop it in a pool of water, the handset is likely to be damaged, as it just has P2i water repellent coating and not an IP rating.
In a nutshell, we would say that we really liked the design of the Moto G7 smartphone. It is very minimalistic and sleek. It’s not for you if you like your smartphone to be flashy though. Go for it if you like elegant and classy looking handsets.
Coming to the 6.2-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display of the smartphone, it comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The colours projected on the display of the smartphone seem to be a little soaked. We wouldn’t call the difference to be a massive one, but we did consistently notice a slight difference between colours projected on Moto G7’s display and the screens of other devices. However, they remain the same at different viewing angles, which is a big plus in our books.
The images and videos appeared to be absolutely clear on the screen and we did not notice any pixelation whatsoever. Also, we faced no problems while using the display under direct sunlight, and we consider this to be another big plus on any device.
For imaging duties, the Moto G7 comes with dual-rear camera setup, which comprises of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture paired with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. On the front, there is an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture that can be used for selfies and video calls.
For software, Moto G7 comes with Android 9.0 Pie that the company has tweaked a bit, but mostly, it’s stock Android. The company has added a number of gestures to the smartphone. So you can touch the smartphone with three fingers to take a screenshot, navigate through your device using only one button, turn the Fast Torch on and off using two karate chop motions, twist your wrist two quickly to launch the camera app, flip the phone to activate DND and more.
Coming to the performance, Moto G7 can handle basic day to day tasks very well. However, it is not very great at super multi-tasking. When we tried using the device for navigation and games at the same time, it began to heat up, which is common amongst all smartphone with a glass back.
However, navigation via Google Maps alone on the device works without any hiccups. And so do most games – even the graphic hungry ones. The handset could handle even games like Asphalt 9: Legends well, which we think is great for a budget smartphone.
Speaking of the biometric security of Moto G7, the face unlock as well as the fingerprint sensor worked well during our time with it. The fingerprint scanner even recognised our finger when it was moist, and the face unlock continued to work in dimly lit conditions. However, stick to using the fingerprint scanner when you are in really dark areas.
The 3,000mAh battery of the handset left us with a bag of mixed emotions. The battery lasts an entire day with moderate usage and if your usage is heavy, you would have to charge it again by the evening. However, that should not be a problem because the smartphone has support for 15W TurboPower fast charging and it takes very less time to charge the device completely.
Coming to the cameras of the smartphone, their performance was not very consistent. The shots taken from the dual rear cameras during the day were overexposed and the colours were saturated.
Saying that the images clicked were sharp and clear. During the day, the quality of images remains good. However, the same cannot be said for night shots as they turned out to be grainy.
Probably with the next set of patches we would see this fixed. Also, you might want to use the flash when in low lit or dark areas.
Even the selfie camera of the smartphone works similarly. Most selfies we took with it turned out to be good, but again, the colours were slightly saturated.
In This Article
Design and Display
As far as the design of the smartphone goes, it is a big upgrade over last year’s Moto G6 handset. The device comes with an all-glass back panel, which gives it a very premium feel, and in this price segment, rarely do we get to see a smartphone that looks so good. The front panel of the Moto G7 is dominated by its 6.2-inch display that has a U-shaped notch and is outlined with not-so-thin bezels on three sides. The chin is thicker than the bezels and it has the Motorola branding on it. The notch of the device is just big enough to house the selfie camera and doesn’t interfere with any notifications when they pop up on the screen. The edges of the Moto G7 smartphone are made of plastic, unlike the back panel of the device. The right edge of the smartphone houses the volume rocker and power keys, while the 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grille and USB Type-C port are placed on the bottom edge. The SIM tray is placed on the top of the handset along with the secondary microphone.
The handset is curved at its edges, which is a factor that really helps in one-handed usage.
Coming to Moto G7’s back panel, as we mentioned earlier, it is made up of glass. The back panel is what truly adds a premium look and feel to the smartphone. There are only two things on Moto G7’s back – the dual rear camera setup of the device and the Moto dimple.
The dual rear cameras of Moto G7 are placed inside a circular module that also has an LED flash inside it. Although it protrudes out like the camera modules found on previous Moto smartphones, it doesn’t stick out as much as the earlier ones did. The Moto dimple that lies right below it houses the fingerprint scanner of the smartphone. There’s one thing that we should mention though: The back panel is prone to getting fingerprint smudges, much like any other smartphone with a glass back. However, it is very easy to get rid of them too. Just one wipe with a piece of cloth and you’ll see them all disappear.
It is also worth adding that Moto G7 comes with P2i coating, which makes it water resistant. This is definitely a plus, considering the price segment, as it would keep your device safe in case it is accidentally hit by a splash of water. However, if you drop it in a pool of water, the handset is likely to be damaged, as it just has P2i water repellent coating and not an IP rating.
In a nutshell, we would say that we really liked the design of the Moto G7 smartphone. It is very minimalistic and sleek. It’s not for you if you like your smartphone to be flashy though. Go for it if you like elegant and classy looking handsets.
Coming to the 6.2-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display of the smartphone, it comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The colours projected on the display of the smartphone seem to be a little soaked. We wouldn’t call the difference to be a massive one, but we did consistently notice a slight difference between colours projected on Moto G7’s display and the screens of other devices. However, they remain the same at different viewing angles, which is a big plus in our books.
The images and videos appeared to be absolutely clear on the screen and we did not notice any pixelation whatsoever. Also, we faced no problems while using the display under direct sunlight, and we consider this to be another big plus on any device.
Performance and Cameras
Before we start talking about the performance of Moto G7, we would take a minute to tell you its specifications. Powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC, the smartphone comes with 4GB of RAM. The handset holds 64GB of internal storage and can also support microSD card up to 512GB. The Moto G7 smartphone packs a 3,000mAh battery with 15W TurboPower fast charging support.
For imaging duties, the Moto G7 comes with dual-rear camera setup, which comprises of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture paired with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. On the front, there is an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture that can be used for selfies and video calls.
For software, Moto G7 comes with Android 9.0 Pie that the company has tweaked a bit, but mostly, it’s stock Android. The company has added a number of gestures to the smartphone. So you can touch the smartphone with three fingers to take a screenshot, navigate through your device using only one button, turn the Fast Torch on and off using two karate chop motions, twist your wrist two quickly to launch the camera app, flip the phone to activate DND and more.
Coming to the performance, Moto G7 can handle basic day to day tasks very well. However, it is not very great at super multi-tasking. When we tried using the device for navigation and games at the same time, it began to heat up, which is common amongst all smartphone with a glass back.
However, navigation via Google Maps alone on the device works without any hiccups. And so do most games – even the graphic hungry ones. The handset could handle even games like Asphalt 9: Legends well, which we think is great for a budget smartphone.
Speaking of the biometric security of Moto G7, the face unlock as well as the fingerprint sensor worked well during our time with it. The fingerprint scanner even recognised our finger when it was moist, and the face unlock continued to work in dimly lit conditions. However, stick to using the fingerprint scanner when you are in really dark areas.
The 3,000mAh battery of the handset left us with a bag of mixed emotions. The battery lasts an entire day with moderate usage and if your usage is heavy, you would have to charge it again by the evening. However, that should not be a problem because the smartphone has support for 15W TurboPower fast charging and it takes very less time to charge the device completely.
Coming to the cameras of the smartphone, their performance was not very consistent. The shots taken from the dual rear cameras during the day were overexposed and the colours were saturated.
Saying that the images clicked were sharp and clear. During the day, the quality of images remains good. However, the same cannot be said for night shots as they turned out to be grainy.
Probably with the next set of patches we would see this fixed. Also, you might want to use the flash when in low lit or dark areas.
Even the selfie camera of the smartphone works similarly. Most selfies we took with it turned out to be good, but again, the colours were slightly saturated.
Verdict
Moto G7 is a decent enough budget smartphone, and it comes with its own set of pros and some cons. You can buy it for its stunning looks, accurate biometric locks, good gaming performance and smooth UI experience. Some aspects of the device’s performance like its multi-tasking and cameras could have been better. At Rs 16,999, it is a good smartphone to buy, provided you know for which set of aspects you are buying it.Pros
Beautiful design Accurate biometric locks Powerful gaming performance Gestures in UICons
Heats up while multi-tasking Inconsistent camera performance Colours not accurate in display and photos
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Microsoft says hackers could access some Outlook.com accounts for months
Software giant Microsoft has sent notifications to some users of Outlook.com saying that earlier this year, a hacker was able to access their accounts for months. The company discovered that the credentials of the support agent of its web mail service were compromised and this allowed hackers to access some of the accounts in between January 1, 2019 and March 28, 2019.
Microsoft has also added that besides having unauthorized access to some accounts, hackers could have also viewed account email addresses, folder names and subject lines of emails. However, hackers could not see the contents of the emails or attachments, according to the company.
As of now, it is not clear how many users have been affected because of this breach or who all were involved in obtaining access to email accounts on Outlook.com. In the email Microsoft sent to affected users, the company said, “Our data indicates that account-related information (but not the content of any e-mails) could have been viewed, but Microsoft has no indication why that information was viewed or how it may have been used.”
While the hackers were not able to steal login details or other personal details of these users, Microsoft has recommended all the affected users to reset their passwords. This is reasonable because practising basic online hygiene is absolutely necessary at the time of a data breach.
The security notification sent by the company says, “Microsoft regrets any inconvenience caused by this issue. Please be assured that Microsoft takes data protection very seriously and has engaged its internal security and privacy teams in the investigation and resolution of the issue, as well as additional hardening of systems and processes to prevent such recurrence.”
The security incident has surfaced just weeks after a former security researcher pled guilty of attacking Microsoft and Nintendo servers. In that particular case, the development servers of Microsoft Windows were breached for a few weeks in January 2017. This breach enabled hackers across Europe to access pre-release versions of Windows.
The software giant has confirmed the breach in a statement, however, it has not revealed the exact number of accounts on Outlook.com that have been affected because of it. Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to technology website The Verge, “We addressed this scheme, which affected a limited subset of consumer accounts, by disabling the compromised credentials and blocking the perpetrators’ access.”
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Nokia 7.1 price in India slashed: Here’s a look at the discount
HMD Global has quietly reduced the price of Nokia 7.1 in India today. The smartphone was launched in India in November last year and back then, it cost Rs 19,999. However, now its price on Nokia‘s eShop has been listed as Rs 17,999, reflecting a reduction of Rs 2,000 in cost. In addition to this, the smartphone’s listing on Flipkart and Amazon India also show the revised pricing of the handset.
The key highlights of the Nokia 7.1 smartphone include a PureDisplay with 19:9 aspect ratio and HDR support, Snapdragon 636 processor, dual rear camera setup with Zeiss optics and of course, its candy bar design. Here’s a look at the details of the discount on the Nokia 7.1 smartphone:
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Nokia 7.1 price in India
According to the update in the listing of the Nokia 7.1 smartphone on the official Nokia eShop, the handset is now available for purchase at Rs 17,999 in India. And as we mentioned earlier, Nokia 7.1 is also listed on Flipkart and Amazon India at the same price. At the time of its launch, the Nokia smartphone was priced at Rs 19,999. As of now, there is no official statement from Nokia about the price cut, so we don’t know if it for a limited period or a permanent one.Nokia 7.1 specifications
The Nokia 7.1 smartphone has support for dual SIM cards and runs Android 8.1 Oreo, which is soon expected to get an update to Android 9.0 Pie. The smartphone has a 5.84-inch full-HD+ PureDisplay panel that comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9. The screen of the device has support for HD10 and is protected with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, Nokia 7.1 comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The handset can also hold a microSD card of up to 400GB. For imaging duties, the Nokia 7.1 smartphone comes with a dual rear camera setup that comprises of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture coupled with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. The device comes with an 8MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree of field-of-view that can be used for selfies and video calls. Nokia 7.1 handset houses a 3,060mAh battery and comes with 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for connectivity. The sensors of the device include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and a fingerprint sensor that is placed on the smartphone’s back panel.
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Airtel, FICCI Ladies Organisation launch My Circle app aimed at women safety
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and FICCI Ladies Organisation have launched a new safety app for women called My Circle. The newly-launched app is aimed at helping women in the event of distress or a situation of emergency by sending an SOS alert to some pre-set contacts. The app can be installed by both Airtel and non-Airtel customers.
According to a statement by the company, “My Circle app enables women to send SOS alerts to any five of their family or friends in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bangla, Urdu, Assamese, Oriya, and Gujarati.”
In order to send the SOS alert, all the users have to do it press the SOS button on the app. Furthermore, users can also activate it via voice command to Siri. while as of now, this feature is only available on iOS, support for voice command with Google Assistant on Android devices too, according to the company.
The company also said, “It will instantly send an SOS alert along with the user’s location over SMS to the five contacts selected by the user and advise them to immediately reach out or respond to the emergency situation. The app operates by estimating the accurate location of the user which their family and friends can track in real time on a link that is sent as part of the alert SMS.”
The application is free to download and is available on the Google Play Store already and will shortly arrive on Apple’s App Store. Once you download the app, you need to register yourself on it. The app will verify users and will let them add five contacts who they want to reach out to at an hour of distress.
My Circle app has been designed by Airtel X labs and its concept was made by an all-women cross-functional team.
Speaking about the app, Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO and head of digital, Airtel said, “My Circle app is an effort by Airtel towards building a safer environment for women. We have leveraged the power of technology to empower women with a simple and intelligent tool that can respond in real time during an emergency situation.”
“My Circle app would act as a deterrent to crime against women, and would empower and make them more confident while travelling. Women are little vulnerable while travelling and when they board a taxi or an auto-rickshaw, they do not know if it is safe. This upgraded app will definitely empower them and boost their confidence while travelling,” said Ms Pinky Reddy, Immediate past President, FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).
You can download the app here.
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Huawei P30 Pro goes on sale in India on Amazon India: Price, launch offers and more
Last week saw the launch of Huawei P30 Pro smartphone in India. The newly-launched flagship smartphone by Huawei comes with a triple rear camera setup that has support for 5X optical zoom, 10X hybrid zoom and 50X digital zoom. We should mention that this is the first time that a smartphone comes with this feature.
Other than this, Huawei P30 Pro handset packs a number of powerful specifications including a 4,200mAh battery, reverse wireless charging, and the most powerful processor by Huawei. The smartphone has finally gone on sale in India today. Here’s a look at all that you need to know about Huawei P30 Pro’s first sale in India:
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Huawei P30 Pro price, launch offers and sale
The Huawei P30 Pro smartphone is available in only one variant in India that comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The device is priced at Rs 71,990 and can be bought from Amazon India and Croma outlets. The smartphone has gone on its first sale on Amazon India today. Huawei P30 Pro is available in Breathing Crystal and Aurora colour. The company is offering early birds an exclusive bundle with the Huawei Watch GT for Rs 2,000 extra (Total of Rs 73,990). Customers can also avail exchange offers on the smartphone and will be able to get a comprehensive 6-month screen replacement worth Rs 20,000. Consumers will also be able to avail a cashback of up to Rs 1,500 on the P30 Pro. This offer will be valid between April 15th to September 21st, 2019. Amazon India is also offering no-cost EMI options on the purchase of the Huawei P30 Pro. Customers will also be able to get an instant discount of up to Rs 1,500 if they choose to buy the device on EMI using ICICI bank credit and debit card. For after-sales service, Huawei India is offering free pick up and drop, expert support, no waiting exclusive service centres and dedicated relationship managers to offer real-time help and support to all P30 Pro buyers. As a part of launch offers, Huawei has partnered with Reliance Jio to bring exciting offers to customers. Buyers will be able to get a cashback of Rs 2,200 in addition to a ‘Double Data’ recharge for first 5 recharges. Consumers will also be able to avail benefits worth Rs 7,800 (including Make My Trip Coupons worth Rs 5,600 & Zoom Car Voucher worth Rs 2,200) on the Huawei P30 Pro. As soon as a customer performs a recharge of Rs 198/299, 44 vouchers of Rs 50 each will be credited to his MyJio account.Huawei P30 Pro specifications
The newly launched Huawei’s flagship smartphone runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with the company’s own EMUI 9.1. Huawei P30 Pro is powered by the company’s Kirin 980 SoC clubbed with 8GB of RAM and is available with 256GB of internal storage. The device sports a 6.47-inch full-HD+ OLED display and has curved edges and a waterdrop-shaped notch. For imaging duties, Huawei P30 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup on its back panel. The device has a 40MP primary sensor with OIS and f/1.6 aperture, a 20MP wide-angle sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and OIS, an 8MP camera that is equipped with a periscope style zoom system and a ToF sensor. The smartphone comes with support for HDR+ mode, 5X optical zoom, 10X hybrid zoom and 50X digital zoom. Huawei P30 Pro smartphone features a 32MP sensor that comes with AI HDR+ with selfies and video calls. The smartphone by Huawei houses a 4,200mAh battery and has support for reverse wireless charging.
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Tinder surpasses Netflix to become the top-grossing application
Tinder, the location-based dating app has defeated Netflix to become the highest earning non-gaming application. This title was held by Netflix since 2016 but now Tinder has overtaken the video-streaming platform in the Q1 2019 revenues.
According to a study by the app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Tinder has grossed $260.7 million from Google Play Store and Apple App Store combined. While for Netflix, the revenues dropped 15 percent since last year and it totaled at $216.3 million. The revenue of Netflix dropped but Tinder’s total revenue increased by 42 percent which puts it in the lead.
Netflix’s revenue drop could be because of a number of things, one of which is a result of it refusing to pay the ‘Tax’ to Apple Inc. Netflix was supposed to pay about $853 million subscription revenue on the iOS which Netflix stopped paying the Cupertino-based tech firm since December 2018. Later, Netflix refused to join the Apple TV+, the Apple’s streaming service where it chose to stay independent.
But on the other hand, Tinder has grown at an incredible rate in emerging markets such as India where it holds the title of the top-grossing application on the Google Play Store. Tinder has another in-app paid service named Tinder Gold which lifts the restrictions set on the regular Tinder app. Although the app hasn’t shared its country-specific numbers but, there are more than 3 million subscribers to the Tinder Gold on the global scale. Out of the 3 million, 1.7 million subscribed to the Gold version in the year 2018 alone.
Other than Netflix and Tinder, some of the top-grossing applications includes the Tencent Video, iQIYI, YouTube, Kwai, LINE, LINE Manga, Pandora and Youku. Most of the apps listed here belong to the audio/video streaming service which shows the growing popularity of such apps among the users.
If we talk about the top-most fastest growing non-paid app then TikTok tops that list. And non-paid social media apps has the most downloads such as Whatsapp, Messenger, TikTok and Instagram. But the top five fastest growing apps are SHAREit, YouTube, LIKE Video, Netflix and Snapchat.
According to the Q1 2019, TikTok was the fastest-growing applications with 188 million users in the first quarter of the year. On this, the Sensor Tower said’ “This marked a year-over-year increase of 70 percent from Q1 2018, when 110 million users installed the hit app for the first time.” And seeing the popularity of the app in India the fact might not seem to be hard to believe. TikTok is used by users from towns to villages so it isn’t a surprise at all. There are 88.6 million Indian users who joined the social platform in the last three months. But the app also was asked to put on ban by the Madras High Court because it showed inappropriate content.
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Two in three hotel websites leak guest booking details: Symentec researcher
Are you planning to go on a vacation? Do make sure that you pick the right hotel or else you may have your information leaked. A Principal Threat Researcher at cybersecurity company Symantec, Candid Wueest, recently tested websites of 1,500 hotels in 54 countries to understand how many of these could potentially leak the personal data of guests staying at their property.
The results of the research were shocking. Wueest found out that around 67 percent or two in three of the websites that he studied inadvertently leaked the booking codes to other third-party websites. The information is also being shared with advertisers and analytics companies.
We should add here that the websites that Wueest tested included two-star hotels located in the countryside, as well as luxurious five-star resorts. Speaking about this, Wueest said, “Basically, I randomly chose locations where I would like to spend my vacation, then selected the top search engine results for hotels in those locations. Some hotel sites I tested are part of larger, well-known hotel chains, meaning my research for one hotel applies to other hotels in the chain.”
According to Wueest, a number of the websites that he studied disclosed personal data like full name, email, address, postal code mobile number, last four digits of credit card, card type, and expiration date and even the passport number. The leak of so much information is very shocking.
Wueest explained the matter in more detail saying, “More than half (57 percent) of the sites I tested send a confirmation email to customers with a direct access link to their booking. This is provided for the convenience of the customer, allowing them to simply click on the link and go straight to their reservation without having to log in.”
It is worth noticing that since the email requires a static link, HTTP POST web requests are not really an option. This basically means that the booking reference code and the email are passed as arguments in the URL itself. We should point out that on its own, this would not be an issue. However, a number of sites directly load additional content like advertisements on the same website.
This means that direct access is shared with other resources. At times it is done directly, however, at other times is it done indirectly through the referrer field in the HTTP request.
According to Wueest, his tests show that an average of 176 requests are generated per booking, although not all these requests contain the booking details. We must add here that going by the number, it can be concluded that the booking data could be shared quite widely.
Furthermore, it has also been revealed that the booking data is also available when the customer cancels the reservation. The research also indicates that hotel comparison websites and booking engines also leak customers’ data. Wueest said, “From the five services that I tested, two leaked the credentials and one sent the login link without encryption.”
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Pewdiepie gets a notice from Delhi High Court to remove his racist songs about India
The Swedish YouTuber Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg is still in the lead in his ongoing battle against the Indian music label making company to be the number 1 YouTube channel in the world. But on his way to become the number 1 channel, he said some racist things about India and the Indians in general. Pewdiepie’s two tracks where he is dissing T-series is full of racism and white supremacism. And on that account, the Delhi High Court has directed the YouTuber to remove his content (the two songs) from his channel.
When the Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg’s channel Pewdiepie started competing against T-series he released a video song named ‘Bitch Lasagna’ in which he dissed the label making company. The whole track is full of some racist things and him dissing the company. While the second song named ‘Congratulations’ was released when T-series overlapped Felix’s channel by over 50,000 subscribers. In his second video, the YouTuber went too far by saying some pretty racist things.
Although before the launch of the second song, the YouTuber’s loss was certain but later he was backed by two other YouTubers with millions of subscribers which put him back in the race. And now he has taken a lead over T-series to become the number 1 channel on YouTube. On that note, T-series’ CEO asked the Indians and the Indian YouTubers to support and back the record label company to reach the number 1 position. After that, the number of subscribers of the company grew but it couldn’t reach Pewdiepie’s level.
As noted by Bar&Bench, “The Delhi High Court has directed YouTube to remove two songs published by Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie from its platform. The interim order was granted by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Jayant Nath in a suit preferred by T-Series owner Super Cassettes Pvt Ltd., seeking to permanently restrain Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, from uploading the songs titled ‘T-Series Diss Track/Bitch Lasagna’ and ‘Congratulations’.”
After the Delhi High Court’s verdict, an obvious video was released by Pewdiepie. In his video, he said, “Imagine if YouTube complies with this Indian law and judgement and removes PewDiePie’s videos.” Even in the newly released video he mentioned some racist things about the country and its people. And knowing the fact that most of his fans are teenagers and young adults who wouldn’t mind hacking into someone’s computers and printers to ask them to subscribe to Pewdiepie’s channel it makes sense that no one would be offended by his videos (at least his fanbase).
Competing against a company is one thing but playing dirty and being a racist and a white supremist is another. Who wins or who loses doesn’t matter if they play fair but if they don’t maybe the platform, YouTube itself should take some strict action.
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GTA 6 might release early, however there is some bad news for the PS4 and Xbox One users
The next instalment in the GTA (Grand Theft Auto) series will be the GTA 6 but the thing is, it is still in development and not much is known about the game yet. Although according to some leaks and rumours online, the release date of GTA 6 is closer than we thought and it might see the light of the day soon. But is also comes with bad news for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One users.
The last instalment in the series was GTA 5 released in 2013, and when launched it was dubbed as one of the best games of the generation for its exceptional gameplay, graphics and storytelling. After GTA 5, the company focused its attention towards the Red Dead Redemption 2 game, which was also dubbed as one of the best games till now. After the release of RDR 2, no major titles had been released by the company Rockstar Games.
But, Rockstar Games never lets the content and the GTA 5 become boring as they keep on adding new content to its online version. According to a new rumour on Pastebin, some third-party developer in Europe was working on a new title for the upcoming PS5, and that title is the GTA 6.
According to the leaks, GTA 6 will be released in the holidays of 2020 and it is rumoured to be a PS5 exclusive title. This seems to be bad news for the users of the PS4 and the Xbox One as the game might not come to the said platforms. But it should also be noted that the game is still in development and since it is a rumour, it should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Keeping that aside, the rumours also mention that the GTA 6 will have two large cities for the players to play in – Miami and Liberty City. Earlier, there was also a rumour that the game would be returning to Vice City similar to GTA 5, which returned to Los Santos. If the rumours about the game are true then the players would surely feel rejoiced.
But it is yet to be seen if all the above will be seen in GTA 6 in 2020, as the RDR 2 was released last year itself and both of them are the biggest titles of the company.
Moreover, in 2020 we could also see the launch of two new gaming consoles – PS5 and the Xbox Two. But the said devices could also be launched this year itself as Microsoft is expected to launch the Xbox Two at the E3 this year and Sony too could hold a launch event for the PS5 this year itself. Hmm, seems like lot of things are churning in the rumour mill. 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. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.The next major update to the Red Dead Online Beta is currently planned to arrive later this Spring, with a host of feature upgrades and new content.
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) March 19, 2019
Details on what’s to come here: https://t.co/WgLV78cBzK pic.twitter.com/XqNiJr2Gai
OnePlus won’t be making a foldable phone, reportedly working on smart TV, in-car and office devices
Although most of the major smartphone brands might be jumping on to the ship of the foldable smartphones, OnePlus isn’t going to sail in it anytime soon. OnePlus may be working on at least three new smartphones which are to be launched this year, but there won’t be a foldable phone. The CEO of OnePlus, Pete Lau spoke with the students of the European Institute of Design where he shared what his thoughts were about the future of smartphones, technology and the company.
According to the CEO, foldable smartphones are not ready and won’t have their prime time yet not because of their prices, but there are many other fundamental reasons for them to become successful. Lau said that they are not doing anything different from the current design of phones in their upcoming OnePlus smartphones. He also said that foldable screens do have a potential future but not yet.
The OnePlus CEO also said that the company wants to expand their products in fields other than smartphones. OnePlus is reportedly working on a TV or a “smart display” said Lau. He said that remote controls are outdated and he wants the AI to learn the watching habits of the user and show relevant information and materials according to the user’s watching habits. His vision of a TV sounds more like Google Now for TVs.
Other than TVs and smart displays, OnePlus is also inclining towards the automotive industry, they are even reportedly working on electronics for the automotive, as building a whole car might be too complex. He also hinted at the possibility of 5G in the electronics and his products and virtual assistant enhancement.
Other than the products mentioned above, OnePlus is also reportedly working on building products for the offices and something for the professional, and commercial usage. The company is reportedly working for the future of cloud-connected era where everything will be connected with 5G and Artificial Intelligence.
Although the foldable screens and the OnePlus TV might not be seen anytime soon, the OnePlus in-car and office gadgets might come to life in the next few years. And the OnePlus 7, which will be the next smartphone from the company will be reportedly launched in 2019 itself. The device will be launched with two more OnePlus smartphones which will most probably be the other variants of the device – a 5G variant and the other might be a non-Pro variant. More details about the smartphones and the upcoming device and services from OnePlus in all probability be revealed by the company at the launch event of its smartphones later this year.Ciao Italia 🇮🇹😬 @OnePlus_ITA pic.twitter.com/lSUqg0pmia
— Pete Lau (@PeteLau) April 11, 2019
Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/0Kn0ozIjYh
— OnePlus (@oneplus) March 29, 2019
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Realme 3 Pro’s specifications spotted on Geekbench, will be powered by Snapdragon 710SoC
Before its scheduled launch on April 22, the Realme 3 Pro has been spotted on Geekbench, which reveals a few details and specifications about Oppo’s former sub-brand’s upcoming smartphone. Being a Realme device, it wasn’t anticipated to have a high-end CPU but the company’s CEO had earlier said that the Realme 3 Pro will be able to run the popular mobile game Fortnite. The game requires a good CPU and GPU to run and that’s why many mid-range performers lack the capability to run the game. Even the Redmi Note 7 Pro or the Galaxy A30 are not capable of running the game even though they possess a good mid-range chipset.
But as mentioned by the CEO of Realme, that the Realme 3 Pro will run Fortnite and he even went on to reveal it on Twitter about the game. A teaser of the Realme 3 Pro was posted where it showed that the device was capable of running Fortnite at 60 frames per second. The teaser made one thing clear that the Realme 3 Pro will have a good gaming performance and it will come with a good CPU and GPU integration.
The new Geekbench results show that the Realme 3 Pro runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC coupled with 6GB of RAM. This is no doubt better mid-range specification than some of the mid-rangers we see in the market today. Also, the phone’s model number is ‘RMX1851’ and it was also spotted on the Bluetooth SIG listing which revealed further details about the upcoming device.
According to the listing, the Realme 3 Pro will come with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display along with a fingerprint scanner. It will have Bluetooth 5.0, 5GHz Wi-Fi and will pack a 3,960 mAh battery. The listing further reveals that the device will run Android 9 Pie skinned with ColorOS 6 out of the box.
Earlier teasers along with the camera samples of the Realme 3 Pro showed that the smartphone will have a selfie camera of more than 12MP, but less than 25MP. Furthermore, the rear camera of the device is speculated to be a dual rear camera setup with 48MP as the main camera paired with an unknown secondary camera. When launched, it will compete directly against the likes of Redmi Note 7 Pro, which comes with a rear-camera setup of a 48MP paired with a 5MP sensor.How about playing #Fortnite on #realme3Pro? I believe #realme3Pro will be the 1st in its segment that can directly support it. Tried to play this game on some latest "Pro" devices but none of them could manage. When it comes to speed, chipset matters.
— Madhav Faster7 (@MadhavSheth1) April 10, 2019
RT to win 1 Rm3pro. pic.twitter.com/j5SKOrXA2g
The launch date of the Realme 3 Pro has been set for April 22 and it will be launched at an event at the Delhi University. The pricing and other details of the phone is currently not known and we will have to wait till the launch of the device to find out. 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. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.Meet hyperboost, the performance boost you need for a speedy and seamless gaming experience! We are super-excited for #realme3Pro.Are you? Comment with a 🙌🏻 and show us your excitement!
— realme (@realmemobiles) April 13, 2019
Launching at 12:30PM, 22nd Apr. #SpeedAwakens pic.twitter.com/W6W4fuSin2
Samsung releases biometrics update to make the in-display fingerprint scanner of the Galaxy S10 better
Samsung Galaxy S10 was one of the biggest flagships launches this year and it ticked most of the boxes of what makes a great smartphone. One of the major new features the Galaxy S10 comes with is its new in-display fingerprint scanner that uses the Ultrasonic sensor instead of the Optical sensor most smartphones come with today. Although it is a new technology and Samsung had promised that it would be better than the traditional fingerprint scanner, but that wasn’t entirely the case as its fingerprint scanner was slow and inaccurate few of the times.
The device has been out in the markets for more than a month now and the users who are using the device are reporting the same problem with the Samsung Galaxy S10’s fingerprint scanner. So now, the South Korean tech giant Samsung is pushing out a new patch to its Samsung Galaxy S10 and the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which is supposed to make the in-display fingerprint scanner faster and better than before.
In the new patch released by Samsung, the company has been trying to work and fix its in-display Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. The new biometrics update that has the new patch is being distributed through the Samsung Galaxy Store. And since it is being offered through the Galaxy Store, there is no way the users can download the new patch manually.
The users of the Samsung Galaxy S10 would have to wait for the new biometrics update to be available for their device. Once it reaches the device of the users of the smartphone, they will be informed through a notification. Once clicked on the it, the update will start downloading and once downloaded it will get installed on the device on its own.
But the thing is, does the new patch released by Samsung for its Samsung Galaxy S10 actually work or does it still need more work? According to some Reddit users who have received the new biometrics software update say that the update works fine. According to them, the update has made the fingerprint faster than before and more accurate. But there are also some users on the same platform who say that they see no change in the fingerprint scanner of the Samsung Galaxy S10. Does it work or does it not? We check out on the S10+ and it really works faster and is definitely more accurate.
It is a good thing that Samsung took notice of the problems faced by its users and it did something about it instead of ignoring the problem altogether as many tech companies do.
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Nepal becomes the first nation to put a countrywide ban on the popular game PUBG
It seems as if the troubles of the popular battle royale game, PUBG (PlayersUnknown Battle Ground), won’t be stopping anytime soon. After being banned in the Indian city of Rajkot, Gujrat for being too addictive, the game has now been banned in Nepal by the government. The government of Nepal said that the game is addictive and it affects the children and the youth of the country, thus they are putting a countrywide ban on PUBG.
There are other battle royale games as well such as Fortnite and the new Apex Legends, both of them have surpassed PUBG in one way or the other. And they both don’t get much negative publicity as PUBG gets. It was last month when the Indian police arrested ten college students for playing PUBG in public even though it was put on a total ban in some cities of Gujrat. But it is the first time PUBG has been banned on a nation-wide scale.
According to The Kathmandu Post and the Himalayan Times, the government of Nepal has directed every ISP (Internet Service Provider) and mobile operators to ban the game. And the government is even prepared to arrest the players who were found guilty of playing the game as it is now illegal to play it.
Dhiraj Pratap Singh, chief of the Metropolitan Crime Division, told the Post, “We have decided to ban the game before anything unfortunate occurs in Nepal.”
Nepal’s Metropolitan Crime Division pushed a ban for the game through the court and put a ban in a single day. According to them, PUBG is addictive and it makes the players violent and aggressive in real life even though there are multiple reports and research done on the subject with no positive result. They also said that they had consulted psychiatrists who believe in the video game aggression theory. They even pointed out that other countries have too banned the game which isn’t entirely true. Because in India the game was put on ban only in few cities and in China the game wasn’t exactly approved by the country. It means that the players couldn’t purchase the in-app items of the game but it was still active.
It should be noted that Tencent added a China-only age gate to the Mobile version of PUBG to pacify the censors placed on the game. But it is not the first time Nepal has banned something completely in the country as it had put a total ban on porn last year in October. So, banning something on a wide scale isn’t really new for the country.
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Jio Vivo Cricket Offer being presented to the customers on the purchase of Vivo V15 and the Vivo V15 Pro
Vivo’s newest offering, the Vivo V15 and the Vivo V15 Pro, launched in India in March and April respectively, came with some pretty good specifications and features. The starting price of the phones is Rs 22,990 and they can be bought from online or offline markets as well. When launched, the Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo said that it will be partnering with India’s Reliance Jio to bring the “Jio Vivo Cricket Offer”, but at that time it didn’t reveal the specific details about the new plan. But now, Reliance Jio has come forward to reveal the offer details and also explained how the users can avail it.
According to Vivo, in the Jio Vivo Cricket Offer, the purchasers of either of the two phones – the Vivo V15 or the Vivo V15 Pro would get benefits worth Rs 10,000 and up to 3.3TB of data. But it should be noted that only users who can avail this offer are the ones with a Jio subscription and have bought either of the two new smartphones.
The benefits worth Rs 10,000 will be divided into two parts – Rs 6,000 will be credited to the user’s Jio number as a form of recharge cashback. The recharge cashback coupons can only be used by the customer if he recharges his Jio connection with a prepaid recharge of Rs 299 plan. According to Jio, the customers would get Rs 150 coupons for 40 recharge cycles which totals at Rs 6,000. While the remaining Rs 4,000 will be given to the users in form of coupons from partners like Paytm, Myntra, Cleartrip etc.
For the remaining Rs 4,000 of the Rs 10,000 benefits includes a Paytm cashback of Rs 1,000 on flight booking, a discount of Rs 100 on Behrouz Biryani, a discount of Rs 100 on Faasos, a discount of Rs 150 on Myntra and a discount of Rs 500 on Firstcry.com. The discounts continue with a reduction of Rs 1,200 on ZoomCar, a maximum cashback of Rs 750 on domestic hotel booking along with a maximum cashback of Rs 1,000 on international hotel bookings via Cleartrip wallet. That concludes the Rs 10,000 benefits the users will get on the purchase of any of the two smartphones.
The eligibility criteria to avail the offer is pretty simple, as said before the users need to buy either of the two devices – Vivo V15 or the Vivo V15 Pro. And they also should purchase the devices between March 6 and June 3 to avail this offer.
So, for users who wanted to get their hands on the new Vivo phones with the pop-up selfie camera, this is the best time to do so.
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Redmi Note 7 Pro starts receiving the MIUI 10.2.8.0 update: Get all the details here
Redmi Note 7 Pro was launched February this year and it garnered a lot of appreciation for offering a 48MP primary camera at an affordable price. The smartphone sports a 6.3-inch Full HD+ waterdrop notched display with a screen-to-body ratio of 81.73%. At the time of its launch, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro ran Android 9 Pie skinned with MIUI 10. However, a month after its launch, the Redmi Note 7 Pro has started getting a new update as Xiaomi is finally rolling out its new MIUI Global Stable ROM update for the device. The update comes with fixes, improvements and March’s security patch.
The update for the Redmi Note 7 Pro holds the version number MIUI 10.2.8.0.PFGINXM and it is around 324MB in size. The users of the Redmi Note 7 Pro will receive a notification about the update once it is available but if they don’t they can go to the official Xiaomi forum and download the ROM for the update. They can also download the incremental zipped update file. Once it is downloaded, the users need to flash it using the recovery mode. However, it should be noted that to be on the safe side, users are recommended to take a backup of all their data beforehand and keep their device’s battery above 30%.
The changelogs of the new update for the Redmi Note 7 Pro includes the March security patch, and a fix for the call time bubble which overlapped with the notification icons. The update also brings an updated and increased security for the system. Other features that have been added include fixes for the lockscreen, status bar, notification shade and some minor fixes over the previous version of the MIUI.
Recently, a high-end variant of the Redmi Note 7 Pro was launched in India with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Earlier this variant of the device was not available in India. The new variant of the device is priced at Rs 16,999 and it comes in three colour options — Neptune Blue, Nebula Red, and Space Black.
The 6GB RAM variant of the Redmi Note 7 Pro holds all the specifications as the other models of the device aside from the RAM and storage. The new variant is powered by the Snapdragon 675 SoC and has a 4,000mAh battery with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4.0 Support. As mentioned above, when launched, the device ran on Android 9.0 Pie skinned with MIUI 10.
It comes with a dual-rear camera setup which comprises of a 48MP main sensor with an f/1.79 aperture paired with a 5MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 13MP selfie camera.
For connectivity, the Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack.
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Oppo will be discontinuing its R series in favour of Reno and Find ranges
Chinese smartphone maker Oppo launched its Reno and Reno 10x Zoom Edition smartphones earlier this week. The devices come with an AMOLED screen and are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. Now that the company has launched the new Reno series of smartphones, three series from Oppo have premium smartphones. These include the R series, the Find Series and the newly-launched Reno Series.
However, this is every likely to create some confusion for customers. Considering this, Oppo has announced that it has decided to put an end to its R Series. And this piece of news has been confirmed by the company’s Senior Vice President Shen Yiren.
In an interview with MyDrivers, Oppo Senior VP Shen Yiren confirmed that the smartphone maker is killing off its R series and would not be launching any more devices in the range. With this, Oppo will now be focussing on its Reno and Find series of handsets.
It was only recently that the smartphone maker launched its Oppo Reno and Oppo Reno 10x Zoom Edition in China. However, as of now, there is no word about when these handsets will come to India, or if at all they will come.
Speaking of Find series, the last device that launched in India from the range was Oppo Find X, which came with a slider to hide the selfie cameras.
Since Oppo R Series has now been discontinued, this makes the company’s R17 Pro the last smartphone from the range to be launched in India. The device was launched last year in the country and even received a price cut subsequently. The Oppo R17 Pro smartphone came bundled with a 50W VOOC charger in the box.
Speaking of the Oppo Reno smartphone that has been launched recently, it features a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with full-HD+ resolution. Oppo Reno smartphone has an in-display fingerprint scanner and it is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor clubbed with 8GB of RAM. The handset sports a dual camera setup that comprises of a 48MP primary sensor and a 5MP depth sensor. Oppo Reno smartphone also has a side-swing selfie camera module that comprises of a 16MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture.
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom Edition, on the other hand, has a 6.65-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display and it is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor. The smartphone has 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor clubbed with an f/1.7 aperture. The flagship handset of the company sports a 13MP secondary sensor that has a periscope telephoto lens on top clubbed with an 8MP super wide angle sensor.
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Amazon Fab Phones Fest sale: Discount on Huawei Mate 20 Pro and Y9
Chinese smartphone brand Huawei has announced that its smartphones will be going on Amazon‘s Fab Phones Fest sale that started on April 11, 2019 and will be live till April 19, 2019.
During this time, customers can avail a discount on Huawei Y9 and Mate 20 Pro smartphone on Amazon India’s website. While Huawei Mate 20 Pro smartphone was the company’s flagship smartphone, Y9 is priced in the mid-range segment. Here’s a look at the deals available on the two smartphones:
In This Article
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Huawei Mate 20 Pro was launched at Rs 69,990, and during the sale, it can be picked up at Rs 64,990 from Amazon India. This means, that the smartphone is available on a discount of Rs 5,000 on the e-commerce website. We should mention that this comes after the launch of Huawei’s new flagship smartphone P30 Pro. Huawei Mate 20 Pro has a 6.39-inch QHD+ display that comes with Gorilla Glass protection. Powered by a new 7nm Kirin 980 SoC, the smartphone comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It is worth adding that sound in Huawei Mate 20 Pro is delivered through the USB Type-C port, instead of a speaker grille. For imaging duties, Huawei Mate 20 Pro has a triple rear camera setup comprising of a 40-megapixel camera, a 20-megapixel wide-angle sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor. The smartphone has a built-in 4,200mAh that lasts more than a day and charges very quickly.Huawei Y9
Coming to Huawei Y9, the smartphone was launched at Rs 15,990 and during the sale, it can be bought at Rs 14,999. This means that there is a discount of Rs 1,000 on the device. Besides this, a no-cost EMI option scheme and a 5 percent cashback up to Rs 1500/- is also available on EMI transactions on HDFC debit and credit cards and an exchange discount of up to Rs 13,050 is also available on the table. Huawei Y9 smartphone features a 6.5-inch display that comes with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. The handset has 4 GB of RAM and 4000mAh battery. Huawei Y9 has sensors like Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope and a fingerprint sensor. Besides Huawei Y9 and Huawei Mate 20 Pro, a number of other smartphones are available at discounted rates on Amazon India till April 13, 2019. You can check out the complete list of devices that can be bought at reduces prices on Amazon here.
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Disney+ video subscription service will be cheaper than Netflix
After Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV+, Disney is jumping in the video subscription segment. Disney’s subscription service will be named Disney+ and it is set to launch on November 12, 2019. To avail this service, the users will be charged $6.99 (approximately Rs 483) per month or $69.99 (approximately Rs 4,837) for a year. With the launch of Disney+, it will be going up against Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Amazon Prime, Showtime and Apple TV+. In its first phase, Disney has planned to roll out the Disney+ shows and services to the US and then they will be made available to other countries in all major regions by 2021.
Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of Disney said, “Disney+ marks a bold step forward in an exciting new era for our company—one in which consumers will have a direct connection to the incredible array of creative content that is The Walt Disney Company’s hallmark. We are confident that the combination of our unrivalled storytelling, beloved brands, iconic franchises, and cutting-edge technology will make Disney+ a standout in the marketplace, and deliver significant value for consumers and shareholders alike.”
The good news is that Disney will be bringing the Disney+ streaming service to Android, iOS, gaming consoles including Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation, streaming media players and smart TVs. It is an extensive plan and Disney will aggressively be rolling out its services to platforms and regions continuously. Disney+ will also support the streaming of 4K HDR videos on compatible devices, however, as of now, their list is not available. For its Android platform, Disney+ will give its users the option to download any shows or videos they are watching for offline viewing. This feature was launched by Netflix only recently where it gave its users the ability to download the shows/episodes to watch offline. But Disney+ will be providing this right from the launch of its service.
Disney + app is expected to have the five largest hubs for its content segregation from some of the most popular franchise such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic.
Disney+ charges are way cheaper when compared to other services such as Netflix which charges $8.99 (approximately Rs 622) per month or $15.99 (approximately Rs 1106) per month if the user wants to stream 4K video streaming. On the other hand, Disney’s plan of $6.99 is cheaper than the Netflix’s plan and its normal per month plan includes the 4K video streaming service so the users won’t have to pay extra for it.
Also, Disney has already confirmed that it will have 7,500 TV show episodes and over 500 movies available on its Disney+ platform for the viewers to watch. According to Disney, it has invested around $1 billion towards developing new content just for the first year of the launch of Disney+. And with it, Disney has a target user base of 90 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Considering Disney’s popularity and the fact that it now owns Fox, Marvel Studios, National Geographic, Star Wars etc it is not a hard target and it might even exceed its own targeted numbers. 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. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.It all starts on November 12. For more info: https://t.co/RD04P7jdAT #DisneyPlus pic.twitter.com/M1QI7qkH5p
— Disney (@Disney) April 12, 2019
Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e available with attractive cashback offers in India: Here’s a look at all the deals
Have you been planning to buy one among the new three new flagship smartphones from Samsung? If the answer is yes, then today is definitely your lucky day as the South Korean technology giant has announced some attractive offers on Samsung Galaxy S10+, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10e. Here’s a look at all the deals that you can avail on the new Samsung Galaxy S10 range:
In This Article
Upgrade on exchange offers
Samsung India says that on popular demand, it has increased the exchange bonus on the Galaxy S10 line. So, going forward, customers buying Samsung Galaxy S10e will get an exchange bonus of Rs 4,000, while earlier they got only Rs 2,000. On the other hand, if you buy the Samsung Galaxy S10 (128GB variant) will get an exchange bonus of Rs 6,000, while earlier they got Rs 3,000. Those buying the 128GB storage version of Samsung Galaxy S10+ will get back Rs 5,000, instead of Rs 3,000. Customers who will buy the higher variants of Galaxy S10/S10+ (512GB/1TB) will now get an exchange bonus of Rs 10,000.Bajaj Finance Offer
Customers who will pay for their purchase of Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e via Bajaj Finance (9/0 scheme – 9 months, zero down payment, zero interest) will be getting special cashback offers. If you buy the Samsung Galaxy S10e, you will get Rs 4,000, while those buying Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10+ will get a cashback of Rs 6,000.HDFC cashback
Customers who would opt to buy Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphones via HDFC Bank cards will get a cashback of Rs 4,000 on Galaxy S10e and Rs 6,000 on the purchase of Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+. Besides this, customers who will buy handsets in Galaxy S10 line will be eligible for getting Galaxy Buds for Rs 4,999 instead of Rs 9,990. Customers can also go for Gear S3 Frontier that costs Rs 22,900, however, they will be able to avail it at Rs 9,999. We should mention that Samsung Galaxy S10+ is available in 1TB, 512GB and 128GB storage variants that cost Rs 1,17,900, Rs 91,900 and Rs 73,900 respectively. The 1TB and 512GB variants of Samsung Galaxy S10+ are available in luxurious Ceramic White and Ceramic Black colours respectively. On the other hand, the 128GB variant can be bought in premium Prism Black, Prism White and Prism Blue colours. Coming to Samsung Galaxy S10’s 512GB variant, it is priced at Rs 84,900 and will be available in Prism White colour. On the other hand, the 128GB variant will cost Rs 66,900 will be available in Prism Black, Prism White and Prism Blue colours. Samsung Galaxy S10e is available only in 128GB storage variant that can be bought Prism Black and Prism White colours. It costs Rs 55,900.
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Apple adds ‘Confirm Subscription’ pop-up to its App Store to limit the accidental subscriptions: Report
To improve the user’s experiences on its App Store, Apple has added a new feature/change to its platform. It has reportedly expanded its subscription process in the App Store by adding an extra step to the subscription process so that the users don’t accidentally subscribe to something.
According to reports, Apple has been seen adding the ‘Confirm Subscription’ pop-up that asks the user to confirm their subscription of a service on its App Store. Apple has come out with this new pop-up to help the users avoid the subscription of any service by mistake. Apple users might see the new feature on their devices as of last week Apple had been rolling out the new feature.
It should be noted that in February 2019, Apple had made the managing of subscriptions easier on the App Store by adding a dedicated shortcut. And in January 2019, we saw that Apple updated its developer guidance for the in-app subscriptions to describe the price details for each subscription the user has made.
The new feature was first reported by the app developer, David Barnard who took to Twitter to tell the people about the new feature. He also posted a picture which show that a pop-up with a title ‘confirm subscription’ emerges once the user authenticates the subscription using the Apple’s Touch ID of Face ID. Once the ID is confirmed, the subscription becomes final from the user’s side. The pop-up also reads, “The subscription will continue unless cancelled in Settings at least one day before a subscription period ends.”
To make the subscription final, the users would need to tap on the ‘OK’ button on the pop-up or they can cancel the subscription by tapping the ‘Cancel’ button. This move by Apple comes late, but it will surely reduce the accidental subscription by the users. It should be noted that Apple devices with the Touch ID are more likely to accidently subscribe any service than the Apple devices using the Face ID technology. This is because the Touch ID requires the user to press the Home button to register their fingerprints, which the users are prone to do as they would tap the Home button thinking that it was a back button. While using the Face ID requires the users to double-click the side button before enabling the facial recognition technology to authenticate the subscription purchases.
But currently, it seems that Apple hasn’t rolled out the new update with the new feature for the global Apple devices as it wasn’t available on iOS 12.2.1. But since this change is out in some areas mean that it would soon receive a global release as well.Whoa! Apple added an additional confirmation step for subscriptions. This new alert comes after you confirm with Touch ID/Face ID. I hope they address this in a more elegant way in iOS 13, but I’m thrilled Apple took a definitive step to curb scam subscriptions. 👏🏻 @pschiller pic.twitter.com/oktaEVdx0o
— David Barnard (@drbarnard) April 11, 2019
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Nexus 6P users who faced battery drainage, bootloop issue to get up to $400 as compensation: Report
Google’s Nexus 6P which was launched back in 2015 caused various problems to some users including bootloops, battery drain etc. And these issues were reported by the users of the smartphone in large numbers in 2016. Instead of coming up with a solution, Google is paying a compensation of $400 (approximately Rs 26,600) as per a proposed settlement to a class action lawsuit that was filed by some of the affected Nexus 6P users.
As a result, Google and Huawei would have to pay a total of $9.75 million (approximately Rs 67.39 crores) to its users. But this proposal is yet to receive the court’s approval. The users who have bought the Nexus 6P on or after September 25, 2015 are now eligible for the compensation by Google.
According to a report by The Verge, the proposed settlement between the California based technology giant and Huawei is to pay $400 to the affected Nexus 6P users. The amount is a compensation fee paid by the companies to the affected users who are facing the bootloop and the battery drain issue.
Also, users who received a Google Pixel XL device for their Nexus 6P in a prior warranty exchange programme would receive up to $10 (approximately Rs 700) from Google. And users who experienced the alleged bootloop issue of their device and if they submit the documentation of the issue would be eligible to receive up to $325 (approximately Rs 22,500).
Moreover, the users who face the alleged battery drain issue on their Nexus 6P and they submit the documentation of the issue would be eligible to receive up to $150 (approximately Rs 10,400).
But the proposed settlement states that the users who faced the alleged battery drain issue and the bootloop issue and would receive up to $400 compensation if they were to submit the documentation. And users who would not be able to produce the proper documentation of the issue would still get $75 (approximately Rs 5,200).
But is should also be noted that this agreement is only planned for the users of the Nexus 6P of the US. It means that if a user resides outside of the US and he is/has faced the bootloop or battery drain issue on their Nexus 6P then they wouldn’t be able to receive any compensation. Also, since the proposed settlement has still not received the approval from the court then it might be possible that the drafted process may get tweaked at the time of its public announcement.
It should be noted that the abovementioned problems in the Nexus 6P started happening after Google updated the Nexus 6P to Android 7 Nougat in 2016.
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