CTC BLOG

Mehul Reuben DasJul 27, 2022 10:52:01 IST

Apple is just a month away from launching one of the most anticipated mobile devices of 2022 – the iPhone 14 series. This year, we will see four devices from the Cupertino-based tech giant. There will be an iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Max and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. In a move that has surprised a number of people, Apple will not be launching a mini version of the iPhone 14.

Apple had introduced the 5.4-inch iPhone ‘mini’ form factor with the iPhone 12 lineup in 2020, and although the device had many vocal supporters and was seen favourably by a number of notable reviewers, it simply did not bring in the numbers for Apple. It quickly became clear that the iPhone 12 mini was not selling nearly as well as the rest of the iPhone 12 lineup.

A report from analysts at CIRP back then, showed that the iPhone 12 mini had accounted for only 6 per cent of overall iPhone sales in the first two months. Compared to that, the regular version of the iPhone 12 accounted for 27 per cent of sales, followed by the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max at 20 per cent each.

The report also found that despite being a part of a flagship series, it was performing worse than older models like the iPhone XR, iPhone 11 and the budget-oriented iPhone SE.

iPhone 13 had a similar story. Despite getting a much better battery and a much brighter display, it continued to sell poorly. A recent CIRP analysis showed that the iPhone 13 accounted for just 3 per cent of all iPhone sales. This clearly did not bode well for devices on which Apple anyway had the least profit margin among their flagships.

One of the biggest reasons behind the dismal market performance of the iPhone 12 Mini and the iPhone 13 Mini may be down to the fact that iPhone’s flagship series are seen as premium products. Devices with smaller screens somehow appear less premium. This, when combined with the fact that devices from just a year ago would give users larger and therefore “more premium and better” displays, pushed people away from the two Mini devices.

And to top it all off, all the decisions around iPhone 14 were being taken when tech companies were facing massive chip shortages, not just because of the pandemic and disrupted global chains, but also disproportionate demands. Apple must have believed that dedicating fab capacities and other resources to a device that hardly brought in any respectable sales.

This year, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro will have a 6.1-inch display whereas the iPhone Max and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will have a 6.7-inch display. In all likelihood, it is possible that Apple may have just killed the iPhone Mini series off with the iPhone 14. Having said that, it is also quite possible that what would have been the iPhone 14 Mini may become the next generation iPhone SE.

FP ExplainersJul 27, 2022 16:26:38 IST

Russia’s Roscomos, the country’s space agency has announced that it plans to withdraw from the ISS or the International Space Station after 2024. The announcement was made by Yuri Borisov, the new head of the Russian space agency. 

Borisov also said that Russia’s future efforts will focus on building a new Russian space station.

The ISS basically has two halves or major modules, one that is used and maintained by a team of Russian cosmonauts, and one that is used and maintained by a number of different nations.

To keep the ISS in orbit, it is imperative that both sides are maintained and kept up to date time to time as well simultaneously. With Russia withdrawing from the ISS, there is a very good chance that the ISS may need to be decommissioned much earlier.

Currently, active agreements on the ISS have it operating till the end 2024, and the station needs Russian modules to stay in orbit. The US and its partners who operate the other half of the space station have been seeking to extend the station’s life to 2030. 

While Russia’s announcement does not a breach of any agreement nor is it an immediate threat to the station’s daily operation, it does mark the culmination of months of political tensions involving the ISS.

Although both sides conduct experiments and studies in accordance to the objectives of their own agencies, there are a number of different studies where both sides of the ISS participate.

Furthermore, Russia operates six of the 17 modules of the ISS including the Zvezda module, which has the main engine system of the ISS. 

This engine is vital not only for the station’s ability to remain in orbit, but also to thrust it into different directions and move out of the way of space debris. Under the ISS agreements, Russia retains full control and legal authority over its modules.

Russia’s space agency has not revealed where they would allow their ISS partners to take control of Russian modules, although anything of that sort is highly unlikely to happen.

It’s also unclear whether it would be possible to separate the Russian modules from the rest of the ISS, as the entire station was designed to be interconnected.

It was also envisioned that in the early stages of space tourism, the ISS would act as a halfway halt for tourists and scientists before they would go on to their final destinations. This arrangement was supposed to be in place until a new halfway station orbiting the earth was operational. 

Several space travel and tourism startups who had pinned their hopes on the ISS will have to come up with a new plan or reorient their targets.

Sygic Travel Map is a competitor in the map and navigation space. While Google Maps tends to reign supreme in this category, Sygic has tried to distinguish itself by offering features that make it more traveler friendly. But most of the stand-apart features require a subscription, so functionality in the free version of the software remains limited. Still, it might be a good place to start to see if an alternative navigation tool is right for you.

In the free version of Sygic Travel Maps, you’ll have the option of either exploring a map of your immediate area or planning a trip.

Exploring will take you to a map overview dotted with small icons and images. Click on one of these, and you discover an interesting attraction such as a park, historic monument, museum, movie theater and more. The icons will also lead you to nearby hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, train routes and bus stops. It is by no means exhaustive, but definitely clues you in to lots of destinations in your area. Click on the image or icon and you’ll have the chance to navigate to it, add it to a trip or mark it as a favorite. 

Unfortunately, though, descriptions of the destinations are only available in the premium version of the software. So you might see a nearby museum in which you might be interested. If available, the app will show you a photo of it, but in terms of additional information such as opening hours or what the attraction is all about, you’ll have to upgrade – or use a Google search.

Speaking of Google, when you click the “navigate” button on any attraction, the app will kick you out to your preferred mapping software on your device such as Google or Apple Maps, which begs the question: why use Sygic in the first place?

Some users might find an answer to that question in the app’s “Trip” feature. When you set out for a trip, you can enter your final destination in the app and you’ll have access to a range of information about it. This includes a list of interesting local places, tours, a weather forecast, links to car rentals and hotels, and a map of the destination. If you want to download all of that information for use offline though, you’ll again have to upgrade to the premium version.

Upgrading to the Premium version of the app gets you the features described above – access to offline maps and data along with enhanced place descriptions – plus you get walking directions, and an ad-free experience. Fortunately, upgrading is relatively affordable, and several different plans make it easy to try out. You can choose monthly for $3.99; yearly for $14.99; or you can buy lifetime access for $19.99, which is clearly the best deal. 

But starting out with the free version of the app, comparing it to other mapping and navigation apps like Google Maps and Wayze, certainly seems like a good first step. You might find that Sygic’s easy navigation, friendly interface, and complete trip-planning package suits you better than those other offerings. 

Sygic Travel Maps is available on the internet as well as a downloadable app for Apple and Android devices.

Download Sygic Travel Now

FP StaffJul 27, 2022 15:12:33 IST

Just a few weeks ago, Samsung unveiled their ISOCELL HP3 sensor, the world’s first smartphone camera sensor that has a resolution of 200MP. 

We also learned that Motorola and Xiaomi are working on devices with the first generation of Samsung’s 200MP sensor, the ISOCELL HP1.

Well now, it seems that Samsung has already started developing a whole new sensor system that would double the resolution of the best smartphone camera sensor they make.

Samsung trademarked the term “Hexa²pixel”, which is described in the filing as “image sensors for photographic devices”.

A new leak by a reputable tipster, IceUniverse suggests that the new sensor will have a resolution of about 400-450MP. The new Hexa²pixel uses the 36-in-1 pixel binning system, which basically means that a group of 36 pixels in a grid of 6×6 pixels get merged into one bigger pixel) which is well above the current arrangements of Tetracell (2×2) and Nonapixel (3×3). 

If the target is 12MP output, like the Tetracell and Nonacell binning systems, the overall resolution that can be calculated comes out to be 432MP, which, in all likelihood will be rounded up to 450MP.

In any case, it will more than double the resolution of the 200MP sensors from Samsung, the ISOCELL HP1, which is a 1/1.22-inch sensor with a pixel size of 0.64µm pixels, as well as the ISOCELL HP3 which is a 1/1.4-inch sensor, with each pixel measuring in at  0.56µm.

Both the current ISOCELL HP sensors have Tetra²pixel systems, which allows them to go for both 4×4 and 2×2 pixel binning for 12MP and 50MP image output, respectively. Given the “²” in the name of the new sensor, it will probably have two output modes as well.

If so, it will be able to output 12MP and 48MP resolution images, respectively. Binning will be necessary since even if the sensor is huge, fitting that many pixels will make them pretty tiny and the images very grainy, if left unprocessed.

A few years ago a rumour had come up that suggested Samsung is planning to develop sensors with resolutions as high as 600MP, with an insane 1/0.57-inch optical sensor. The Hexa²pixel sensor may represent just the halfway point of what is coming in the next few years.

Ameya DalviJul 28, 2022 10:02:48 IST

Pros:
– Elegant design, good build quality
– Sharp AMOLED display
– Fast and accurate SpO2 sensor
– IP67 dust and water resistant, but not swim-proof
– Simple user interface
– Direct calling feature from the watch
– Affordable

Cons:
– No GPS; pedometer registers lower step count
– Slot for only one watch-face of your choice on the watch
– Minor bugs, questionable sleep tracking
– Frequent disconnections from the app

Price: Rs 3,999

Rating: 3.5/5

We have reviewed a handful of audio products from Boat in the recent past, and today we analyse their latest fitness watch. Like most of their products, the Boat Watch Primia is also a budget offering, but looks quite stylish and can easily be mistaken for something a lot more expensive. It does offer a couple of interesting features that are hard to find in this segment. So let’s figure out how much style and how much substance this fitness watch brings to your wrist.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

Boat Watch Primia: Design and build
The Boat Watch Primia is quite stylish without being too flashy. The dark blue faux leather belts nicely complement its shiny metallic frame. You also get a variant with black straps. What struck me was the lack of any conspicuous Boat branding on the frame or the bezels of the display. It is only present on the buckle if you are observant enough to notice it. In some ways it’s a good thing as the watch looks a lot more premium without the brand name diluting that perception. Even better, if you don’t like being called a ‘BoAthead’.

The build quality is quite good, and the watch feels sturdy without being too heavy. It probably weighs around 50 grams. The straps fit well and do not cause skin irritation even after wearing the watch for the better part of the day. They have standard 22 mm width with a simple lock-in mechanism, and if you do not like the default ones, you can replace them with any third-party straps of the same width. 

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

The watch is IP67 rated dust and water-resistant. While it can easily handle a few splashes, it does not make it swim-proof. So don’t forget to take it off before jumping into the pool. The SpO2 and heart rate sensors are located at the back, along with the charging points. There are two physical buttons on the right side – one that doubles up as a Menu and Home button, while the other serves as a shortcut for fitness activities. 

Boat Watch Primia: Display and Watch-faces
One of the most striking features of the Boat Watch Primia is its 1.39-inch circular AMOLED display. It has a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels and is quite sharp, vibrant and responsive. Circular AMOLED screens in this budget are quite rare, but it is great to have one. There is a curved glass on top but no mention of any scratch resistant layer or oleophobic coating. Don’t think Boat has applied the latter as one can easily spot smudge marks on the screen. There were no scratches though even after weeks of use. 

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

You get five levels of brightness of which level 3 is bright enough indoors, and level 4 or 5 get the job done under bright sunlight. In the current weather, even level 3 was fine outdoors. You can turn on the screen by flicking your wrist or by pressing one of the buttons. A single flick generally works, but I did not find it as responsive as watches from Amazfit or Xiaomi. Flick to wake feature can be turned off or scheduled to stay off during your sleep hours or in a dark room like a theatre. You also have an alway-on display option, but at the cost of battery life.

Moving on to watch-faces, there are five of them preinstalled on the watch, and you get about 100 more through the Boat Crest app. You get the usual mix of digital and analogue faces, and some with fitness data like steps count, heart rate, calories burned etc. I did like a few from the lot but the watch lets you store just one watch-face of your choice. If you add another, it replaces the one that you uploaded before. The preinstalled faces cannot be removed. If not more, the company should have let the users store at least three faces of their choice on the watch.

Boat Watch Primia: Software and UI
The user interface is quite simple even for first time fitness watch users, and it’s lag-free too. Swiping down shows quick settings menu, while you can check notifications by swiping up. Swiping left or right lets you cycle through the widgets like daily activity progress, heart rate, music playback, stress levels etc. Swiping right on any screen other than the home screen takes you to the previous screen, and pressing the top button takes you to the home screen directly.

Before you start using this watch, you need to download and install the Boat Crest app and sync the watch with it. The app is fairly basic, which is good for beginners, but could have done with a bit more depth. In addition to watch settings and watch-face library, you get access to daily activity progress, workout data, heart rate, sleep data and SpO2 level. Tapping on some of them displays more information, but don’t expect major data crunching. 

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

For instance, the sleep data covers the quantum of deep sleep, light sleep and REM sleep info but does not give you in-depth sleep quality analysis like a score or what the ideal ratio of deep sleep to overall sleep duration should be. Same goes for workout data. Yes, this is an entry-level fitness watch, but we still feel there was room for more analysis.

Boat Watch Primia: Performance
You can track 11 different fitness activities on this watch ranging from walking, running, cycling and yoga to sports like basketball, badminton and football. The watch has a heart rate sensor that can monitor your heart rate all day with frequency ranging from 5 minutes to an hour. I would have liked to see a 1 minute option too. Stress monitoring is also available here and with a dedicated widget on the watch. 

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

The SpO2 sensor on this watch does a great job in terms of speed and accuracy. You get a reading in just 15 seconds which is almost twice as fast as some of the fastest I have come across in fitness watches. Understandably, it is not as fast as over the counter oximeters but the readings are at par with a 1% variance at most. As always, these are just reference values and not meant to replace clinical equipment.

This Boat watch does not have built-in GPS, but walks and runs are tracked with reasonable accuracy. There is a 5% margin of error, which is acceptable in this segment. The good part is the pedometer doesn’t register false steps. If anything, it often under-reports the total steps. The accuracy of sleep tracking is questionable here. While it does provide information about different sleep stages, I felt the total sleep duration it reported was a lot lower than actual. I tried it thrice and it only seemed to get it right once.

Boat Watch Primia: Other interesting features
Other than the above, you get the usual set of features like music controls, call alerts and notifications from various apps on your phone that you allow. The messages are perfectly legible on the watch screen, but as always, you cannot reply back. Beyond the usual, it does support one interesting feature — calling functionality. You can actually make calls from this watch without the need of a headset. It has a microphone and speaker built-in.

Of course, the watch needs to be synced with your phone to route the calls through as it does not have a SIM slot. But you do get a dialer on the watch screen from where you can dial a number. If you give the watch access to your contacts, you can directly choose from one of your saved numbers. Similarly, you can answer a call on watch too, but it can be a hit or a miss. The watch tends to disconnect from the app frequently, and often you do not get the incoming call alerts on the watch. 

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

The call quality is passable at best. In a quieter place, you need to hold the watch closer to your ear to hear clearly as the speaker in the watch isn’t very loud. The microphone does a fair job though as the person on the line could hear me with reasonable clarity. The watch also gives you sedentary reminders every hour to get up and move around. The implementation could have been smarter as they seem to appear on the screen even when you aren’t wearing the watch.

Boat Watch Primia: Battery backup
The Boat Watch Primia claims to last for a week on a full charge. In reality it does better and goes beyond that if you do not indulge in too much calling from the watch. During my testing it went on for 8 days with screen brightness set to 3 most of the time, notifications limited to SMS and email, three hours of total fitness activity across four days, two oximeter readings daily and three nights of sleep tracking during the period. 

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

That’s not bad but several fitness watches have been going past 10 days comfortably. And given that this watch does not have built-in GPS, it should have strived for that number. Another minor issue being, you do not get a numeric value for the battery on the watch, and the battery graphic isn’t perfect. The watch runs out of battery without a warning when one feels there’s 25% juice left in the tank as per the battery graphic.

Boat Watch Primia: Price and Verdict
The Boat Watch Primia launched at Rs 4,999 with a one year warranty but can easily be purchased around Rs 3,999 online. It is a fair price for what it offers, and if style ranks high in your list of requirements, then it’s a great price. And not that it is light on features either. Yes, GPS is an obvious absentee but that is offset by a circular AMOLED display; something extremely rare in this budget. Add to that decent performance, ease of use and one of the fastest SpO2 sensors, and you easily get your money’s worth.

As for alternatives with round dials, you have the Realme duo of Watch S and R100 that offer similar features in the 4k to 5k range but without an AMOLED screen. If a rectangular display is fine with you, then you have two good options from Amazfit that also have built-in GPS. The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini and Bip 3 Pro can be picked for Rs 4,999 and Rs 3,999 respectively, with the former flaunting an AMOLED screen. They are swim-proof too thanks to their 5ATM water resistance. Choose one depending on the style and features that appeal to you more.

FP StaffJul 28, 2022 12:43:27 IST

Back in May of this year at Google’s I/O developer’s conference, the tech giant took everyone by surprise when they announced that there will be a number of devices under the Pixel 7 series this year.

Although not a lot of details have been revealed officially about the device, there have been a number of rumours and leaks about the hardware that will be used for the Pixel 7 series.

A recent leak has revealed a few details about the triple camera setups that the flagship device of the Pixel 7 series will come with. 

As per the leak, the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro will have a 50MP Samsung GN1 sensor for the primary camera and an ultra-wide lens with the Sony IMX381 sensor. The camera’s hardware will be similar to the Pixel 6 phones.

For the front camera, the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro will be using the 11MP Samsung 3J1 sensor, ditching the Sony IMX sensors that Pixel devices typically use. For the Pixel 7 Pro, there will be an additional Samsung GM1 sensor instead of a Sony IMX586 sensor, which will be paired with a telephoto lens. 

Several leaks also suggest that another high-end Pixel phone will be launched alongside the Pixel 7 Series. This new device is will apparently include the upcoming Sony IMX787 sensor for either the ultra-wide lens or the telephoto lens. The main camera for the new device is said to be the same as the other two Pixel 7 devices.

Codenamed Lynx L10, the third Pixel device that Google will be launching is expected to have a 13MP front-facing camera. In all likelihood, this may be the foldable Pixel device that rumours have been floating around about since May of this year.

Other rumours around the specifications of the Pixel 7 series suggest that will have the same display specs as the Pixel 6 series. The Pixel 7 will have a 60Hz display, whereas the Pixel 7 Pro will have a 120Hz, both of which have been sourced from Samsung. Both the devices will have an all new version of Google’s Tensor chipset, an improved and larger battery and a few more upgrades.

Mehul Reuben DasJul 29, 2022 13:12:52 IST

There was a point in time when Instagram was “the” social media platform to be on. However, thanks in order to stand out and remain at the top, somewhere, the social media platform lost its way.

Instagram built itself based on posts that were either digitally created images or photographs. Over the years, it added features like Instant Messaging, from WhatsApp, and statuses from SnapChat. Although these features were well received, one feature that was not well received was its idea to get into Shorts, or Short Videos a form of content that was popularised by TikTok.

Seeing TikTok’s meteoric rise, the Meta-backed platform started a similar feature called Instagram Shorts. Now, although there wasn’t exactly a problem with how the feature was integrated to the platform, what became a problem, was how Instagram pushed shorts.

Off late, a user’s feed would just be filled with either short or video content from people they did not follow, or by advertisements. The situation had gotten so out of hand, that most creators and small businesses who had built their careers and businesses on the platform started complaining that their reach had tanked. Even regular consumers started complaining that all they could see on their feeds was video content from people whom they did not follow.

The final nail in the coffin was when Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, two of the most followed people on the platform put out a post saying that Instagram needs to be Instagram.

With over 361 million and 326 million followers respectively, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian are two of the most followed personalities on the platform. Both of them came out against Instagram becoming more like TikTok.

Amid all of this, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri doubled down on recent changes to the app and that video content, especially shorts and reels was the future for the platform. This stance comes despite the backlash from scores of users, including some of the most prominent ones.

A new report suggests that Instagram will finally be heeding what its users have been complaining about.

Instagram will pause features that users have campaigned against and complained make the social network too much like TikTok

“I’m glad we took a risk,” Mosseri was quoted as saying Thursday in a recent interview. “But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup. If we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough,” he added.

Mosseri argued that the shift to more video would happen even if the service changed nothing, as users increasingly share and seek video snippets. “If you look at what people share on Instagram, that is shifting more and more to video over time,” Mosseri said.

What this means for end users is still a little vague. Instagram certainly won’t be giving up on video content and definitely not giving up on vertical shorts. 

What it might do, is tweak its algorithms in such a way that users still get to see posts from the people they chose to follow, but most of their feed will still be dominated by short videos. Video Posts from creators who upload regularly will still be pushed by the algorithm.

FP StaffJul 29, 2022 16:20:59 IST

Sony is betting big on gaming, and hence has decided to go all in and get a bigger share of the proverbial pie. After releasing a new gaming headset and a couple of monitors, the Japanese tech company is slowly getting into the market of accessories for mobile gaming.

Sony recently partnered up with Backbone, a joystick and gamepad developer, to make a PlayStation 5’s DualSense-like version of the excellent Backbone One mobile controller for Apple’s iPhone. 

Backbone One is one of the highest-selling third part accessory makers for mobile gaming in the US. They already have a controller, called the Backbone One which was designed for gaming on iPhones. The device can handle iPhones across all sizes. It also allows users to play PlayStation games via Remote Play, Sony’s mobile app that streams games from your PS4 or PS5 console.

The original Backbone One had borrowed the layout and the buttons for its controllers from Xbox’s design – they had the XABY buttons, and offset joysticks. For the PS5 version, Sony and Backbone have only replaced the buttons in the schematic. There is a very good chance that this is the only Sony product that has offset joysticks. Also, the Sony version of the Backbone One connects with the iPhone wirelessly.

But that’s not the reason why the PS5-styled Backbone One for iOS is an odd thing. It is odd because Sony decided to make one at all. 

Gaming on iOS used to be huge at one point, but not anymore. Even though iOS has more games than Android, at about 9,00,000 titles as opposed to 3,50,000, the number of gamers on Android far exceeds the number of gamers on iOS. 

Furthermore, competitive mobile gamers, who also influence the amateur market, are dominated by users who use Android devices. Therefore, it would have made more sense if Sony and Backbone had made a gamepad for Android users first.

Backbone has a Backbone One gamepad for Android users that works similarly to their original, iOS only Backbone One. However, where iOS devices connect wirelessly, Android devices need to be connected with a cable. Sony plans on releasing a Backbone One for Android in November this year. We just hope that it isn’t a wired device.

As a piece of software, Krita has had an interesting history. With origins in various projects reaching back to 1998, Krita eventually became a free image-manipulation tool like Photoshop, or GIMP from about 2004 to 2009. After that time, the open-source program recruited students to work on its improvement, and in 2012 the Krita Foundation was formed to raise funds to continue supporting the completely free software. In 2015, Krita launched a Kickstarter campaign to take things to the next level. After smashing its fundraising goal, Krita got a basket of goodies added to it, making it unbelievably powerful, especially considering that the company still doesn’t charge for the product.

Unlike Photoshop, Krita is more aimed at straight-up illustrations, and so it’s a compelling tool for game designers, illustrators, comic creators and other makers who draw from scratch. You can, of course bring in photos and work on them just fine in Krita, but if photo work is your primary goal, you’ll likely want to get a more specialized software package.

However, when it comes to painting, Krita is hard to beat. 

You’ll find all the usual tools here including the chance to choose from over 100 different preset brush styles (including pens and pencils), as well as the chance to completely customize your own brush by working with nine different brush engines. One nice feature that illustrates Krita’s cooperative spirit, is that it offers users the ability to import brushes from other users and share brushes you create with the community. 

The software works with the layers system familiar to all Photoshop users, but the latest release of the software improved layer management, making it more flexible and intuitive. 

While Krita could rest on simply being a painting tool, the organization’s ethos leads to continual improvements, so with the new release of the software, animation is now supported. Just drop in your illustrations and the software will stitch them together into a smooth flow. And speaking of smooth, Krita also comes with built-in brush stabilizers to smooth out your lines if you have a shaky hand. 

The software is also packed with vector tools – including speech bubbles that make it easy to add words to your comics – and a new wrap-around mode lets you create repeat patterns that morph as you alter just one image. 

The standout feature of Krita’s new release might well be its improved speed. After all, the rallying cry of the 2015 Kickstarter campaign was “Let’s make it faster than Photoshop!” While it’s hard to say if that goal was achieved, it’s clear that Krita has received a serious speed boost. Previously, when working with very large canvases and large brushstrokes, users would have to put up with lag as the image rendered and re-rendered. Now, a real-time preview feature lets you see what you’re doing as you’re doing it, removing a source of frustration for serious designers.

Krita is available free for Windows, Mac and Linux, or inexpensive paid versions can be bought from the Windows Store ($9.97) or Steam ($9.99). Paying for a version lets you support Krita’s future development and entitles you to automatic updates every time one is released. 

Ameya DalviJul 29, 2022 20:03:16 IST

Pros:
– Good build quality, polished design
– Fair mix of performance and features
– Good primary camera with OIS
– Vibrant 90 Hz Fluid AMOLED display
– Good battery life with 80W fast charging
– Value for money

Cons:
– Very few changes from the Nord 2
– Still no 4K video recording on the front camera
– Competition has moved further ahead since the Nord 2

Rating: 4/5

Price: Rs 28,999 onwards

Among all the Nord phones OnePlus has launched till date, the Nord 2 has been by far the best of the lot. Now that its successor, the OnePlus Nord 2T is here, I have had mixed feelings about it. Despite a gap of over three quarters between the launch of the two phones, OnePlus has hardly done anything different with it. On the bright side, they haven’t messed up anything that was good about the Nord 2. So let’s see if the OnePlus Nord 2T is worth your money.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

OnePlus Nord 2T Design: Still feels premium and great in hand
The OnePlus Nord 2T does look good, but opinions were divided about whether it looks better than the Nord 2. We got the Jade Fog variant for review with a soothing colour shade and a glass back with a mirror finish that blends seamlessly into the plastic frame. The glossy edges tend to attract a few smudge marks and so does the glass back. In fact, the smudge marks are a lot more conspicuous here in comparison to the ceramic-like finish on its predecessor.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

 The build quality is quite solid, and the phone feels good in hand with even weight distribution. It weighs 190 grams and is 8.2 mm thick. The rectangular camera island at the back is noticeably bigger this time, despite hosting the same three cameras, and sports the same colour shade as the phone’s back. You may be pardoned for thinking it has just two rear cameras. 

You get an in-display fingerprint scanner that’s highly responsive and works well, but unlike certain OnePlus phones, it is located a lot closer to the bottom edge rather than an inch above where it is easier to access. The SIM tray is present along the bottom edge of the phone and can accommodate two Nano-SIMs. Next to it is a USB-C port followed by a speaker. The volume rocker is placed along the left edge and the power button on the right edge along with an alert slider. All buttons are easily reachable without stretching much. 

OnePlus Nord 2T Display: Been there, seen that
OnePlus has opted for the same display that was present on the Nord 2, which I believe was borrowed from the first Nord. You get a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a 90 Hz refresh rate. About time they move to 120 Hz on the Nord too (non-CE at least). The HDR10+ compliant display is well-calibrated out of the box. It is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

The black levels and contrast on the Nord 2T display are excellent and so is the colour reproduction. You get Vivid and Natural modes here with a slider for colour temperature. Beyond that, there aren’t many manual calibration options. Ambient display is available and you can either leave it on always or set it to turn on momentarily when you move the phone a bit. I always prefer the latter as it saves some battery.

OnePlus Nord 2T Performance: Slightly more powerful than its predecessor
The OnePlus Nord 2T is powered by Mediatek’s Dimensity 1300 SoC, which is just a minor upgrade over the Dimensity 1200 present in the Nord 2. Having said that, it is not a bad option for this segment. It is powerful enough for almost anything you would like to do on the phone, including gaming. Our test unit had 8 GB RAM and 128 GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage to go with it. Day-to-day operations were absolutely smooth and lag-free even when we opened multiple apps and switched between them. 

The gaming experience was pretty decent too and perfectly enjoyable at medium to high settings depending on the game. The phone did not heat up much after 30 minutes of gaming. The dual speakers (the earpiece and the one at the bottom) produce good quality audio with a surprisingly good stereo effect. In addition to support for aptX, aptX HD and LDAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.2, the Nord 2T retains LHDC codec compliance that is still lacking on several more expensive OnePlus phones. The call quality is perfectly fine too.

In our usual synthetic benchmarks, the scores were in a similar ballpark as the Nord 2. The Nord 2T scored 4563 and 1328 in the 3D Mark Wild Life and Wild Life Extreme benchmarks respectively as opposed to 4218 and 1285 by its predecessor in those two tests. The average frame rate for the two phones stood at 27.3 and 8 fps vs 25.3 and 7.7 fps respectively. There is a noticeable jump in PC Mark Works 3.0 scores from 8075 previously to 9355 now.

The results were a mixed bag in Geekbench 5. While the Nord 2T got a higher multi-core score (2858 vs 2762), it couldn’t keep up with the Nord 2’s single-core performance (778 vs 815). Having said that, the difference isn’t massive in most of the tests, and you won’t feel any difference in performance in day-to-day tasks between the two phones. While the performance isn’t in the same league as the Snapdragon 8 series SoCs from the last two generations, it is perfectly acceptable for a phone that sells around 30K.

OnePlus Nord 2T Battery performance: Good battery life, very fast charging
The battery capacity is exactly the same as its predecessor. The 4500 mAh battery lasts for over 30 hours of normal use that includes a generous use of messaging and social media apps, browsing, a few calls, clicking a few photos, an hour of watching videos and half an hour of gaming. Nothing wrong with these figures at all. The company now bundles an 80W Super VOOC charger with the Nord 2T as opposed to a 65W option earlier.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

It charges the phone from 0 to 100 per cent in just 33 minutes, which was pretty much the time taken by the 65W charger to juice up the Nord 2 with the exact capacity battery. While these are still excellent figures, the 80W charger doesn’t seem to provide any significant benefit over its 65W counterpart. I did try using a 65W Super VOOC charger with the 2T and it took just a couple of extra minutes to charge it fully, thus highlighting the point further. 

OnePlus Nord 2T Camera performance: Copy-pasted from Nord 2, but no problem
OnePlus Nord 2T has exactly the same camera setup as the Nord 2 – front and rear. At the back, you get a 50MP camera with the Sony IMX766 sensor with PDAF and optical image stabilisation (OIS) that does most of the heavy lifting. Giving it company are an 8MP ultra-wide camera with 120 degrees FOV and a 2MP monochrome camera. Located in a punch hole at the top of the screen is a 32MP selfie camera with a Sony IMX615 sensor. 

The overall performance is quite similar to that of the Nord 2, which wasn’t too bad for its selling price. The primary camera captures some quality shots in good to average lighting with good dynamic range. Colours feel fairly natural though not 100% accurate. The sharpening, saturation and noise are kept in check, and the output feels just right. Since there is no macro camera here, you may face the odd focusing issue when shooting from close range, but it captures ample detail in close-ups too.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

The Portrait mode works well with good foreground and background separation. The output is generally good with human subjects or other objects. The camera app lets you adjust the level of background blur. In normal mode, you get the usual zoom and ultra-wide toggles, but there is no dedicated telephoto camera here. When using the zoom, the shots are digitally zoomed, but 2X zoom shots look sharp and are perfectly usable. Beyond that, they look washed out. 

Just like most 8MP ultra-wide cameras, the one here is average at best. The output is fine in well-lit conditions, and while the dynamic range is decent, the images are noticeably poorer in detail in comparison to those captured using the main camera. But again, they are very much usable. Low-light photography on the main camera is good, and that’s the only camera you should be sticking to when the light drops. 

It does a more than decent job even when not using the Night mode. Noise is kept in check and there is a good amount of detail in captured shots. Night mode definitely improves things further by enhancing highlights in dark areas of the picture; it just takes a couple of extra seconds to capture the image. The Ultra Nightscape mode present on the Nord 2 is missing here, but I didn’t really miss it. Avoid zooming or using the ultra-wide camera in low light, the output is nothing special. 

The 32MP selfie camera does a good enough job to impress selfie enthusiasts. The captured images are sharp and the skin tone looks natural. You can click portrait shots too using the front camera, and they generally come out well. The front camera on the Nord series still cannot record 4K videos, and you will have to make do with 1080p resolution at 30 fps. You also get a Dual View video option where the front and rear cameras can be used simultaneously.

The rear cameras on the Nord 2T can record videos up to 4K resolution at 30 fps, and you can have 60 fps for 1080p videos. Super Slow Motion videos see a 4X enhancement here with the option of 480 and 960 fps max on 1080p and 720p videos respectively. You can also record time-lapse videos in Full HD resolution. Captured 4K footage on the main camera looks sharp and stabilised, courtesy of EIS (electronic image stabilisation) and OIS. 1080p videos shot on the main camera look good too, with an option of Ultra-steady mode with 60 fps. 

Click here for some uncompressed shots taken using the OnePlus Nord 2T.

OS and user interface: OxygenOS 12 – deal with it (for a little longer)
The OnePlus Nord 2T runs the latest Android 12 with OxygenOS 12.1. Enough has been said about how this is more ColorOS than OxygenOS, and it’s all true. But what’s also true is it’s very much usable, and even more so if you haven’t experienced older iterations of OxygenOS. No we aren’t softening our stance on this issue but we are done ranting. It is what it is; deal with it! And probably for only a little longer, hopefully. OxygenOS 13 is just around the corner, and if it indeed does what it promises to, things are expected to return to the old normal. Let’s see. 

As of now, even without its past glory, OxygenOS 12 is perfectly usable. It offers a handful of tweaks to customise it further, and the learning curve isn’t steep. You do not get ads or many unwanted notifications either, which is great. And most importantly, the company has committed two years of major Android updates and three years of security updates for this phone. That means one can be assured of getting OxygenOS 13 and beyond on the Nord 2T.

Final words: More of the same, but still offers solid value for money
The OnePlus Nord 2T can be purchased in India at Rs 28,999 for the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant and Rs 33,999 for its 12 GB RAM variant with 256 GB storage. That makes it a thousand Rupees cheaper than the Nord 2, which is barely available now. Though not significantly different from its predecessor, you do get a phone with as good a design and performance and offers good value for money. Though it remains a good option under 30K, it has some stiff competition to deal with.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

Here are some names that come to mind straight away. The two new launches from Xiaomi sub-brands top the list. We are talking about the Poco F4 5G and Redmi K50i that offer more powerful processors and comparable cameras. Then you also have the Motorola Edge 30 with a more robust photography department, 144 Hz OLED display and better UI. And lastly, the iQOO 7 that offers a 120 Hz AMOLED screen and Snapdragon 870 at a similar price. While the Nord 2T can compete well, life won’t be as smooth as the Nord 2 had it in 2021.

FP ExplainersJul 29, 2022 10:58:28 IST

Late on Thursday evening, Google and Apple removed the popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India or BGMI as it is popularly known, off of their app platforms, that is Android’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

Google has confirmed that the reason behind the removal of the game from their platform was because of a government order that they had received. What exactly the order entails, has not been revealed as of writing this article.

BGMI was launched last year as an India-specific version of the popular battle royale game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or PUBG. PUBG Mobile was banned by the Government of India almost two years ago because of its publisher, TenCent’s close proximity with the Chinese government, and irregularities in the way they handled Indian users’ private data. In essence, PUBG was a major security risk.

Back then, India was one of the biggest markets for PUBG Mobile. The developers of the game, Krafton, decided to cut all their ties with TenCent, the game publishing studio. Krafton, the South Korean game development company had pledged to invest $100 million in India’s gaming ecosystem. 

Krafton has also backed a number of Indian startups including Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi and Kuku FM in the past one and a half years, and was set to allocate about another $140 million in the country by next month.

BGMI’s removal from Google’s and Apple’s Indian app stores comes as they mark their first anniversary. Over the year, Krafton said that they had over 100 million people sign up for BGMI and had about 16.5 million active monthly users in India.

Krafton India, meanwhile has asked for some clarity on the issues that have led to the removal of the games, and what regulations if any, have they violated. Krafton’s India CEO Sean Hyunil Sohn has said that BGMI and PUBG are different games and that the firm had put safeguards in place to address any misuse of its titles, such as enforcing a time limit on the usage of its games, login authentication etc.

He also added that The government does not intervene in which apps can function and which cannot. They intervene in digital security and privacy concerns, and BGMI complies with all guidelines. MeitY or the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also noted that PUBG and BGMI are different games.

The removal comes at a time when the Indian government has been cracking down on Chinese tech corporations in India and has been investigating them for tax fraud and improper remittances of Indian money to their parent companies in China. Indian authorities have raided the local offices of Chinese smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo in recent months.

Back in February 2022, PRAHAR, an NGO had urged the Indian Government to block all gaming apps like PUBG, including BGMI, that had any ties with China. PRAHAR suggested that BGMI should be added to the list of the 54 Chinese apps that the GoI had banned in February 2022, saying BGMI’s omission from the list is a “clear lapse in judgement on part of the Government.” Just a month earlier, in January, NCPCR or the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights also sought an explanation from IT Ministry on the same subject.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch had supported this initiative by PRAHAR and had called for an investigation into the antecedents and Chinese influence of games like BGMI and PUBG.

As of writing this article, users who had the games installed on their devices can still play because the servers hosting the game hasn’t been ordered to shut down.

FP StaffJul 28, 2022 14:11:18 IST

Apple is just weeks away from officially unveiling and launching the iPhone 14 series in Early September this year. Earlier we had learnt that the Cupertino-based tech giant is facing issues with the production of iPhone 14 Max mainly due to its screen. Now, a leaked report suggests that Apple is also facing issues with the cameras that they will be using for the iPhone 14 series.

Well-known Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo has revealed that Apple is facing some major quality control issues with the rear glass elements and lenses for its rear camera for the iPhone 14. The specific problem is all about “coating-crack quality concerns” which basically means that the some of lenses on the back camera of the iPhone 14 are developing cracks for no reason.

As a result, Apple may be searching for a new components supplier as a result of this issue to avoid difficulties with the next shipments of the device. A Taiwanese company by the name of Genius Electronic Optical has been making glasses for the iPhone’s cameras all these years.

However, since Genius is having quality control issues, Apple has evidently already transferred about 10 million lens orders to Largan Precision, another Taiwanese optical lens manufacturer, to avoid iPhone 14 shipment delays since the Taiwanese company is capable of filling the supply gap.

Kuo claims that Genius should be able to address the coating-crack issue within two months, and if it doesn’t, Largan will receive more orders from Apple for the lenses.

Apple is facing a number of challenges in making the iPhone 14 series. First, there were some issues with the supply chain, and component shortages. Then, there were issues with the RAM modules that would have gone in some of the iPhone 14s, which was followed by issues with the display panel of the iPhone 14 Max. And now, this.

Apple will be doing everything in their power to launch the devices as per its schedule, that is the 6 September. However, there is a very good possibility that they may have to limit the number of units that are available for sale on the day of the launch. 

We know that they will have a limited supply of the iPhone 14 Max on the day of the launch of the iPhone 14 series, due to the issues with the panel. Let’s just hope that Apple is able to get its issues in order and is not forced to delay its launch.

FP StaffJul 28, 2022 16:46:41 IST

Xiaomi’s sister brand Redmi is all set to launch its next flagship phone, Redmi K50S Pro very soon. Key specifications of the device, including details about the camera, battery and display have already leaked online.

The device in Redmi’s K50 series will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset. 

A few weeks ago, we had learned that apart from Motorola and Samsung, Xiaomi too will be coming up with a device that would have a 200MP camera. A new rumour suggests that the K50S Pro that Redmi is working on, is the same 200MP device that Xiaomi was working on.

We take a look at some of the leaked specifications of the Redmi K50S, and what sort of hardware can we expect to see.

Notable tipster Yogesh Brar has revealed that the Redmi K50S Pro will have a 6.67-inch OLED display, that will support a refresh rate of 120Hz and will also have HDR10+ certification. The Redmi K50S Pro will be powered by a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. The SoC will be paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Furthermore, the device could have an in-display fingerprint scanner along with dual speakers as well.

For the cameras, the Redmi K50S Pro will be getting a Samsung ISOCELL HP1 200MP camera for its main shooter and an 8MP ultrawide camera. It will also get a 2MP macro camera. The front camera will be a 20MP unit for selfies and video calls.

The Redmi K50S will also get a 5,000mAh and support for 120W fast charging. The device will ship with MIUI 13, based on Android 12.

This handset will be added to the existing Redmi K50 lineup which includes smartphones such as Redmi K50, Redmi K50 Gaming and Redmi K50 Pro. The vanilla Redmi K50 and the Pro variant gets power from the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 and Dimensity 9000 chipsets, respectively while the Redmi K50 Gaming packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset.

The device will first launch in the Chinese market and then it might be rebranded and launched in other markets; however, there is no official word about this from the company yet.

Ameya DalviJul 28, 2022 10:28:01 IST

Choosing five smartphones under Rs 20,000 was a tough job this time. These days you have a barrage of handsets powered by the Snapdragon 695 chip, and we really had to deliberate about which ones to include and which to leave out. We decided to offer a diverse portfolio so that it caters to a broader user base.

As always, we have phones with ample processing power, good cameras, high refresh rate displays, AMOLED screens, 5G compliance and more. Let’s meet the final five under 20K this month.

Best phones to buy under Rs 20,000 in India

iQOO Z5 5G
This was the easiest choice, and probably the best option in this budget currently. I don’t remember seeing the iQOO Z5 5G selling under Rs 20,000 previously, and that too before any cashbacks and credit card discounts. It offers impressive features and performance starting with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC which is a great option in this budget. You get 8 GB RAM and 128 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage to go with it. The phone has a 6.67-inch Full HD+ LCD screen with 120 Hz refresh rate. 

Battery capacity stands at 5000 mAh with a 44W fast charger that promises to recharge 50% of it in just 23 minutes. Photography is handled by three cameras at the back consisting of a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide snapper and a 2MP macro camera. You also get a more than decent 16MP selfie camera. The iQOO Z5 5G runs Android 11 with FunTouch UI 12, and the company promises two major Android updates going ahead.

iQOO Z5 5G price in India: Rs 19,990 for 8 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

Poco X4 Pro 5G
Poco X4 Pro 5G retains its place in our list thanks to its impressive feature set. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC, and is accompanied by 6 GB RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. This phone too has a 6.67-inch Full HD+ screen with 120 Hz refresh rate, but you get a Super AMOLED display here with a peak brightness of 1200 nits. The screen is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

The camera setup on the Poco X4 Pro 5G is quite similar too, comprising a 64MP primary camera, 8MP ultra-wide snapper and a 2MP macro camera at the back. The 16MP front camera located in a punch-hole at the top of the screen is good enough for selfies and video calls. Its 5000 mAh battery lasts over a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 67W fast charger promises to juice it up fully in less than 45 minutes. The phone runs Android 11 with MIUI 13 on top. 

Poco X4 Pro 5G price in India: Rs 16,999 for 6 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

Motorola G71 5G
The Motorola G71 5G is the second of the two phones with a Snapdragon 695 chip that we have included in this list. And you get 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage with it. It is an ideal choice for those looking for a near stock Android UI. The phone runs Android 11. The rest of the features aren’t bad either. You get a sharp 6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, but the refresh rate is limited to 60 Hz. Its IP52 rated dust and splash resistant design adds an extra layer of sturdiness. 

The photography department on the Motorola G71 is helmed by a 50MP primary camera. Giving it company are an 8MP ultrawide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. Its 16MP front camera does a good job with selfies and video calls. This phone too has a 5000 mAh battery that keeps it powered for close to a day and a half of moderate use, and is accompanied by a 33W fast charger. The phone is currently available for a significantly lower price as compared to a couple of months ago.

Motorola G71 5G price in India: Rs 15,999 for 6 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G 
Samsung occasionally slips in a well-rounded budget phone that ticks a lot of boxes. The Samsung Galaxy F23 5G is one of those. It is a very good option for the brand conscious buyers in this budget. This is the only phone in the list to offer Android 12 out of the box, and you get the company’s new One UI 4.1 on top. This smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC, and its 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal (expandable) storage variant is comfortably available in this budget with a few thousands to spare. 

This handset has a 6.6-inch Full HD+ LCD display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The photography department at the back is quite similar to that of the Motorola G71 with a 50MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. The Samsung Galaxy F23 5G has a modest 8MP selfie camera that gets the job done. The battery backup is similar to most phones here with a 5000 mAh battery keeping it running for a day and a half of moderate use. It supports 25W fast charging.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G  price in India: Rs 15,999 for 6 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

Redmi Note 10 Pro Max
We decided to give the last slot to a slightly older phone that is still a great option at its current selling price. The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is the only phone in this list to flaunt a 108MP camera. The support cast consists of an 8MP ultra-wide camera, 5MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor at the back. A 16MP front camera is adept at handling selfies and video calls. The camera performance is quite impressive for the segment. The phone runs Android 11 with MIUI 12. It lacks 5G but more than makes up in other departments.

The phone sports a 6.67-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a rated peak brightness of 1200 nits and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection against scratches. The screen is HDR10 compliant and has a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G SoC, and you get 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal expandable storage. It has a 5020 mAh battery that lasts over a day and a half of moderate use. A 33W fast charger is included in the bundle.

Redmi Note 10 Pro Max price in India: Rs 16,749 for 6 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

FP StaffJul 27, 2022 16:23:53 IST

Meta, back in 2014 when it was known as Facebook, had acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for a cool $19 billion. Back then, it was one of the most expensive tech deals. It was also said to be one of Mark Zuckerberg’s most ambitious deals. 

However, Zuckerberg’s deal is not working out as he had hoped. The app still has not been able to generate a decent return for investors who had bet big on the world’s most popular messaging app. It’s been over half a decade and Meta is yet to make a viable profit off of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp was launched in 2009 by Brian Actom and Jan Koum, who were former Yahoo employees. When Koum purchased a new iPhone in 2009, he stumbled across Apple’s App Store and the duo saw a million possibilities. 

The idea of sharing dynamic information like an SMS but over the internet and displaying the special message for everyone or their “status” for every person on the phone’s address book spawned what is now the most downloaded and used IM app across platforms.

By 2013, the app had over 400 million unique users. However many users migrated to Telegram and Line soon after Meta acquired WhatsApp. 

WhatsApp’s major competitor, Telegram reported 8 million new users as opposed to 2 million unique subs on the Line app in 2014. However with 600 million users now, WhatsApp was the most popular messaging app on Earth and it still is. WhatsApp, as of now, brags that it has 2 billion users now.

Despite this, the business hasn’t been able to generate much profit for Meta, or rather, Meta hasn’t been able to monetise WhatsApp without hurting its user base.

With the quarterly report due on July 27, it’s gonna be a tough time for Mark Zuckerberg to face the ire of investors, even as competing apps like WeChat are doing well with lesser subscribers.

This may mean that given Zuckerberg and Meta’s fiduciary responsibilities towards Meta’s shareholders, they may eventually have to sell off WhatsApp or start charging some sort of fees for premium users.

FP StaffJul 26, 2022 10:19:04 IST

On Monday, Dyson launched its new cordless vacuum cleaner in India called the Dyson V15 Detect. The new vacuum cleaner comes equipped with dust detection and detangling technology, which enables the vacuum cleaner to detect hidden dust particles as small as 10 microns and is equipped with an acoustic piezo sensor to enable “scientific proof” of what’s been sucked up.

The Dyson V15 Detect Cord-free vacuum cleaner offers up to 60 minutes of powerful fade-free suction, and a five-stage filtration system. 

Developed by a team of 370 highly skilled engineers globally, this latest vacuum cleaner uses a Dyson Hyperdymium motor which generates up to 240 air watts of suction for the most powerful deep clean.

Dyson claims that Laser Dust Detection reveals the particles you cannot normally see with a precisely angled laser integrated into the cleaner head. as born. Dyson engineers integrated a green laser diode to spot hidden dust on the floor surface that is otherwise invisible to the naked eye and can be seen and removed.

A new piezo sensor has also been integrated into the vacuum cleaner. Carbon fibre filaments in the cleaner head pick up microscopic particles which are sized and counted up to 15,000 times a second. The dust enters the vacuum and hits the acoustic piezo sensor within the bin inlet with the tiny vibrations being converted to electrical signals. 

The dust size and quantity are shown on the in-built LCD screen, so the user can see how much dust the vacuum has removed, as well as the different sizes of particles and deliver scientific proof of a deep clean.

The vacuums have been designed so that they automatically increase suction power when they come across a large amount of dust. This happens in auto mode when the piezo sensor detects high concentrations of dust, and reactive suction power is triggered to automatically increase in power. 

When dust levels normalise, suction power is reduced to its previous level. Also, there’s a new anti-tangle conical brush bar which spirals hair off and into the bin. This prevents the wrapping of hair around the brush bar.

The company said that the vacuum is engineered with 1.5 times more suction and 54 per cent more bin capacity than the ‘Dyson V12 Detect’.

The Dyson V15 Detect cord-free vacuum is available at Rs 62,900 at Dyson’s website and at Dyson Demo stores.

FP StaffJul 26, 2022 13:30:02 IST

A few days ago, OnePlus announced that they will be launching their flagship device of the year, the OnePlus 10T on August 3, 2022, at an event in China and New York, that will be live streamed all across the world. People in India can catch the live stream at at 7:30 PM IST in an online event.

Now, we’ve learnt that the Chinese tech company is planning to launch another device on the same day, just three hours before they launch their 2022 flagship.

The event will see the arrival of the OnePlus Ace Pro – a phone we are pretty confident is the 10T with a different name for the local crowd. In all likelihood, it will have the same specifications as the 10T, with the only difference being that it will have some China-specific features and hardware that the regular version, that is the OnePlus 10T that will be sold internationally, will be missing.

OnePlus calls the Ace Pro “the new benchmark for performance” because it will come with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. It will also have 120Hz screen, and rumours are pointing towards a 150W fast charging system, a dedicated gaming mode and ultra-fast memory, probably up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

The OnePlus Ace Pro will launch with Android 12 out of the box but will have ColorOS on top, unlike the OnePlus 10T, which will have OxygenOS. 

OnePlus’ Chinese marketing team has been able to hype the device pretty well. The device has already been put up for pre-orders on the company’s Chinese website and well over 20,000 people have already placed their orders, and are waiting patiently for the device to be announced officially. A few details, such as the price, will be revealed on August 3, at the event.

FP StaffJul 26, 2022 15:05:26 IST

India’s cyber-security agency, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT-In has warned of high vulnerabilities in the Apple Watch ecosystem. The vulnerabilities would can allow hackers to bypass the company’s security measures that have been built into Apple’s WatchOS.

In an advisory, CERT-In has said that users should update their Watch OS to the latest security versions rolled out by the company. The vulnerabilities have been reported in versions of WatchOS prior to the 8.7 version.

This vulnerability might allow attackers to run arbitrary code and bypass security restrictions on the device. What this means is attackers could make use of this security flaw to execute commands on your device remotely. These commands can include ways to bypass the watch’s security restrictions, allowing the attackers access to private information on the smartwatch.

As per the CERT-In vulnerability note, the vulnerabilities exist in Apple Watch models running on older software due to various flaws. These include “buffer overflow in AppleAVD component; an authorisation issue in AppleMobileFileIntegrity component; out-of-bounds write in Audio, ICU and WebKit component; type confusion in Multi-Touch component; multiple out-of-bounds write and memory corruption in GPU drivers component,” among others.

“Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code and bypass security restrictions on the targeted system,” the note added.

Apple has already released fixes for these security vulnerabilities in the latest version of its watchOS software for compatible models, which are Apple Watch Series 3 and above. 

In order to update their Apple Watch, users need to ensure that their device has at least 50 per cent battery, and is connected to a WiFi network. Open Settings on the watch itself, and navigate to General/Software Update. If an update is available, users need to follow the on-screen instructions to update their devices. 

Mehul Reuben DasJul 25, 2022 11:36:29 IST

OnePlus is gearing up to launch its flagship for the year 2022, the OnePlus 10T. At least on paper, the device should be the best device that OnePlus will be launching this year, with some of the best features and top-notch specifications.

However, as per a few reports around the upcoming OnePlus 10T, OnePlus may be planning to get rid of one of its most iconic features that sets it apart from most other Android devices – its alert slider.

From the original OnePlus One, the brand’s smartphones have almost always included a slider on the side of the device which was used to switch between ringer modes. Called the “Alert Slider,” this switch could move between vibrate, mute, and full volume modes, much like the iPhone’s Mute Switch.

This is a feature that has become the mainstay of all OnePlus flagships, and a wider range of its non-flagship devices. There have been a few smartphones that such as the OnePlus Nord N20 that did not get the Alert Slider, but by and large, this has been a very common feature on OnePlus devices.

The revelation came alongside the first images that OnePlus shared, which took a look at the design of the OnePlus 10T, which has a light green colour alongside a black option. The OnePlus 10T looks almost the same as the OnePlus 10 Pro which was released earlier this year.

Hope Liu, OnePlus’ Chief Designer, explained that the move was necessary in order to place other key components on the device. This includes a much bigger battery, hardware for even faster charging, and a better and stronger antenna. The Alert Slider takes up around 30 mm² on the motherboard, which has a relatively large impact on building the device, as per Liu. 

Another reason why the slider was removed, was to make the device much more stronger. In a number of durability tests by reviewers and YouTubers, it was found that the OnePlus 10 Pro snapped right where the Alert Slider was placed. This may be a coincidence, but we’re pretty sure that OnePlus may not be willing to take that risk again.

In another major development, OnePlus’ partnership with Hasselblad has been dropped. As a result, the top-tier variant of the OnePlus 10T will not be carrying the Hasselblad branding as some of the previous flagships used to. 

OnePlus, in a statement said that they “wanted to offer an ultimate performance flagship smartphone at the device’s chosen price point,” but the brand also confirmed that it will still use a 50MP Sony IMX766 as its primary sensor, technically a slight upgrade from the 10 Pro.