CTC BLOG

Mehul Reuben DasAug 29, 2022 18:41:07 IST

There were a ton of announcements made at Reliance Industry Limited’s Annual General Meeting this year that has tech heads in India, very excited. While some of the announcements that tech heads were waiting for, like the unveiling of the 5G Smartphone, as well as the JioBook Laptop and some other stuff that, did not materialise, some of the other announcements turned out to be even better.

We take a look at some of the key moments and announcements from RIL’s 2022 AGM that has all tech heads in India, very excited.

Jio’s 5G rollout
Jio has announced that by Diwali this year, they will be launching their 5G services in India in 4 major cities, namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Furthermore, Jio has planned that by December 2023, they will be taking their 5G services to every nook and corner in the country. Evidently, Jio will be setting up their 5G network completely independent of their current 4G network, a method that is called Stand-Alone 5G. Other reasons why Jio’s implementation of 5G will be better than that of competitors are carrier integration and the use of the largest and best possible spectrums in a wide area.

Jio Phone 5G
Though the device wasn’t revealed, we finally have some official news about the Jio 5G smartphone. It is being developed in a partnership with Google, and in all likelihood, it will be unveiled by at next year’s AGM event. This is the second phone that Google and Jio are developing together. The first one is last year’s JioPhone Next. Jio hasn’t revealed any further details about the upcoming 5G phone other than the fact that it will be developed in partnership with Google.

JioCloud PC
The JioCloud PC truly is a game-changer. What it is, is basically a minicomputer or networking device that allows you to connect to more powerful computers based on cloud computing, and use the resources of the more powerful computer to carry out tasks. What this does, is it allows users access to a computing device such as a laptop or a desktop computer, at dirt cheap prices. JioCloud PC, Reliance says, does not require any upfront investment.

It also does away with the need for periodic upgrading. The company says that the device will be a ‘game changer’ for students, gig-workers and small businesses in the country.

Jio AirFiber
Jio AirFiber is a plug-and-play device for users to experience fiber-like speed over the air without any wires. That means you can carry a full-fledged networking hotspot that can deliver 5G-like speeds over wifi, in your backpack. All you need to do, is find a suitable power point, plug in the device and connect. The device will be using Jio’s 5G services to provide internet at fiber-like speeds.

Jio partnering with Qualcomm
Back in 2020, Qualcomm Technologies and Reliance Jio Platforms announced a partnership to develop open and interoperable interface-compliant architecture-based 5G solutions with a virtualised RAN or Radio Access Network. This year, RIL announced that they will be taking their partnership with Qualcomm to a whole new level. The two will be working together on cloud-native, scalable, and flexible 5G infrastructure, in both mmWave and sub-6GHz, to develop a comprehensive ecosystem. This means better, and far more secure 5G networks.

(Disclosure – Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.)

Ameya DalviAug 29, 2022 16:54:45 IST

Pros:
– Good picture quality in 4K content
– HDMI 2.1 ports with support for eARC
– Dual-band WiFi
– Access to picture and sound settings on the fly
– Android TV 10 with clean UI
– Affordable

Cons:
– No Dolby Vision support
– No analogue audio output
– No dedicated power button yet
– Erratic contrast at times

Overall Rating: 3.7/5
Price: Rs 32,999

The Y series TVs from OnePlus have been their most affordable, as they pack just the minimum necessary features and nothing fancy, which is pretty much what the potential buyers in the segment look for. When you add the Pro suffix, you do get a few extras, and in fact, the latest Y1S Pro series TVs find themselves a lot closer to the relatively more premium U series. 

Going by the spec-sheet, the OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro that we have for review today feels a lot like the 50 U1S that we reviewed a few months ago, sans the far-field mics and Dynaudio sound for a significantly lower launch price. If that’s the case, it may translate into great value for money. Let’s find out how good this Y1S Pro TV truly is.

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – Design and connectivity: 8/10
Just like the U1S, this TV sports a near bezel-less design on three sides. The bottom bezel isn’t too thick either, and it’s all black here, unlike the grey outline in the U1S. The long trapezoid chin that hosted a bunch of LEDs and receivers for far-field mics has been replaced with a standard tiny one that holds the power LED and IR receiver. Though there is nothing wrong with Y1S Pro’s design, it feels like any other bezel-less TV and not as stylish as the U1S. 

The TV can be wall-mounted or placed on a desk using the bundled plastic stands that don’t feel as sturdy as the metal ones, but hold the TV firmly in place. The necessary screws are present in the package. You get the usual OnePlus voice enabled remote along with a pair of AAA batteries to power it. The remote is compact but still doesn’t have a dedicated power button; more on that in a bit. 

In the connectivity department, you have the key bases covered, barring one. You get three HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which supports eARC –  something I am quite pleased to see in a budget TV. In addition to that, you have two USB 2.0 ports, Optical audio out, A/V input and a LAN port. An analogue audio output like a 3.5 mm headphone jack or a coaxial A/V out continues to be absent. Wireless connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.0 and dual band WiFi with support for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

All ports are placed along the left edge of the rear module. And just like in case of the U1S, the ports are located closer to the centre of the TV rather than near the edge, making them hard to access, especially if you wall mount the TV. This is a common design flaw in most budget TVs.

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – Features and specifications: 8/10
As the model number suggests, the OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro has a 50-inch panel, and it flaunts an Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and a 60 Hz refresh rate. Information about the panel type and its peak brightness hasn’t been provided by OnePlus, but it looks like a VA panel. It supports HDR10/10+ and HLG formats for HDR content. It doesn’t support Dolby Vision, which I wasn’t expecting either, given that the more expensive U1S also isn’t compliant with it. It does offer 10-bit colour depth and can display over a billion shades.

This TV is powered by a 64-bit quad core processor with Cortex A55 cores and Mali G52 GPU. You get 2 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage (half of U1S), a sizable chunk of which is taken up by the Android TV 10 OS and the preinstalled apps. You are left with just half the space for installing more apps. Sound output is rated at 24 Watts RMS with support for Dolby Audio. Unfortunately, there is no involvement of Dynaudio here, who had done a pretty neat job with the audio tuning in some of OnePlus’ more premium models. 

As with all Android TVs, it has Chromecast built-in and lets you cast content to the TV from compatible apps on your phone or tablet. The wireless remote control bundled with this TV operates over IR and Bluetooth both. After pairing it with the TV, you can bring up the Google Assistant by pressing the corresponding button and issue voice commands. You cannot go completely hands free here, as this TV excludes far-field mics to keep the cost down; a fair tradeoff.

Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi

As for the remote, the key layout is fine and most of the necessary buttons are present, barring one. The concave shape for the Back button is a nice touch so that one can use it without looking at the remote. Certain buttons are assigned multiple tasks again, and while that reduces the clutter, it also causes undesired actions at times. Case in point, the missing dedicated power button. You need to keep the key with the OnePlus logo pressed to restart or shut down the TV or put it to sleep. If you press it quickly out of habit or release it too soon, it launches OxygenPlay, leading to irritation.

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – User interface: 8/10
The OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro runs Android TV 10 OS with a stock user interface. Not much has changed here since the U1S. It is easy to get a hang of despite the newer Google TV-like UI. You have a row of installed apps, the shortcuts for which can be added, removed or shuffled around. Other rows display last played or suggested content from various OTT services. The UI is pretty much lag-free.

Once again, OnePlus has included apps for a bunch of streaming platforms on this TV. One can understand bundling apps for Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar given their hotkeys on the remote. But on top of that, you have apps for Zee5, Voot, Lionsgate Play, Sony LIV, Spotify and many more that take up a chunk of the internal storage. The good part being you can uninstall most of them to free up space. 

OxygenPlay 2.0 is also present, which aggregates content from various streaming services. You need to have an active subscription for the given service to watch the respective content. The Y1S Pro lets you adjust sound and picture settings on the fly while viewing content from any source or app. While there is no dedicated settings button on the remote, long pressing the menu button for a couple of seconds brings up the quick settings menu from where you can access the necessary functions.

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – Picture quality: 7/10
The overall picture quality of this TV is a bit of a mixed bag. But before I get into the finer details, let me clarify upfront that the picture is perfectly fine for a budget TV, after making a handful of adjustments from the picture settings. The picture is tuned reasonably well out of the box as far as colour reproduction is concerned. But with motion compensation turned on by default, there are far too many motion artefacts visible on screen. I would strongly advise switching off MEMC as it never really does a great job on budget TVs. Same goes for all dynamic contrast and auto brightness settings. 

Post that, the picture looks clean on this OnePlus TV. When it comes to SDR content, the brightness and contrast are good, and details in dark areas in high contrast scenes in our test videos were clearly visible. The colour reproduction is good too, but it is clearly a notch higher in HDR content. But the contrast tends to act funny in certain scenes. Not only was there noticeable flickering in certain areas of high contrast scenes, but at times the entire background lighting would change from dim to bright and vice versa. Think of it like someone switching an extra light bulb in the room on and off every 5 seconds.

I don’t think it’s a panel issue but more of a bug in the picture engine rendering certain scenes. This was mainly visible in HDR10/10+ content on Prime Video. When not facing this issue, the content on the same OTT service would also produce some great results with respect to colours, sharpness and detail. Even 1080p content on Prime Video and even Netflix looked great on this screen, and at times it seemed as good as 4K. In SDR content, the difference between those two resolutions was more distinct with 1080p videos not looking as lively as their HDR counterparts.

The black levels, though not spectacular, were pretty decent for a budget TV. As I mentioned earlier, the Y1S Pro is not Dolby Vision compliant, and shows encoded in that format play in HDR10/10+, and this TV does a fair job of rendering them. 720p videos are watchable, but the upscaling is not that great. Anything in lower resolution looks washed out, as is the case with most 4K TVs. The viewing angles were acceptable but with some noticeable colour shift from sharp angles.

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – Audio quality: 6.5/10
A pair of bottom firing speakers rated at 24 Watts RMS delivers standard quality audio. The output is loud and vocals centric for better dialogue clarity, but it lacks the punch and warmth that Dynaudio’s tuning offered on the U1S. I suspect that TV used a different set of drivers too. It is perfectly usable when watching news or sports or most dialogue centric programs. But music and action movies/ web series aren’t as enjoyable on the TV speakers due to the weak bass. 

The audio is generally loud enough around 40 percent volume level, and seldom did I have to push it beyond 60% during the course of testing. If you seek better sound quality, you can always connect a soundbar or a speaker system, given the number of audio outputs available here like Bluetooth, optical and HDMI eARC. What’s more, you can also plug in a Dolby Atmos compliant soundbar into the TV’s HDMI eARC port to crunch the Atmos audio feed when available using passthrough option. 

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – Overall performance: 7/10
The TV takes less than 40 seconds to boot up when you switch it on from the mains, which is average for Android TVs. Post that, the TV comes back on in just a couple of seconds from standby mode. Just like its more premium siblings, it takes much longer to get it into standby mode. As I mentioned earlier, this OnePlus TV too lacks a dedicated power button, and I touched upon its side-effects too. About time the company added this basic necessity. 

Other than that, things work as expected. The voice assistant is fairly prompt to respond. Media playback through USB is quite good too through the default media player. If for some reason you don’t like it, you can always install a different one from the Google Play Store available on this TV.

OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro – Price and verdict
The OnePlus TV 50 Y1S Pro can be purchased for Rs 32,999 with a one year warranty on the company’s website as well as other popular ecommerce platforms. Barring some contrast issues and average sound output, it is a pretty good budget 4K TV with HDR10+ compliance, good connectivity options and newer HDMI 2.1 ports with support for eARC. But this is a competitive segment in India that’s heating up further, and there are more options for one to consider.

The Redmi X50 with similar specs, comparable picture quality, HDMI 2.1 ports, Android TV 10 is available at a similar price, and it supports Dolby Vision too. Hisense and Toshiba have recently launched their 50-inch 4K models with Dolby Vision and Android TV 11 for less than 35K, which we will review shortly. And lastly, the price of OnePlus 50 U1S has dropped to Rs 35,999 making it a very attractive proposition. For just Rs 3,000 more than the 50 Y1S Pro, you get a few modern features like far-field mics, superior picture quality and much better sound. So, why settle?

Mehul Reuben DasAug 29, 2022 11:02:37 IST

eliance Industries Limited will be holding its 45th Annual General Meeting or AGM today. While this is a big event for India Inc. in general, this time around, the Indian tech industry is also going to keep track of the developments at the event, with bated breath.

Ever since RIL’s Jio announced that they would be getting into mobile device hardware a few years back, people have been anticipating a major move from the telecommunications giant, that would disrupt the handset market just as it did with the service market.

We take a look at a few things that most tech enthusiasts and industry analysts expect that RIL will be announcing at this year’s RIL AGM

Jio 5G Services
This one is kind of obvious. After emerging as the highest bidder in the recently concluded 5G spectrum auction and having bought the highest number of bandwidth and circles across the country, Reliance Jio Infocomm will be announcing their 5G services, and possibly the pricing of their 5G services as well. The services are expected to go live in October when India officially launches its own 5G networks.

Jio 5G Smartphone
This was a long time coming. Right after Jio had the JioPhone Next, their 4G ready smartphones, experts had claimed that it wouldn’t be long before they forrayed into 5G smartphones. Now that Jio is ready to launch their 5G services as well, they are also going to launch their first 5G smartphone. The device is likely to come with a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD display. The Jio 5G Smartphone will be running on Pragati OS, a custom operating system that Jio has developed in partnership with Google, and will cost around Rs 12,000.

JioBook Laptop
Rumours around the Jiobook laptop started going around in 2018. Like most Jio offerings from Jio, the Jiobook is going to be an affordable thin and light notebook. A few months back, it got the BIS certification and even appeared on Geekbench. It will be powered by an ARM processor, have its own OS, and will come preloaded with apps like JioStore, JioMeet, JioPages, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Edge and Office. The pricing should be around Rs 30,000.

Giga Factory for clean energy
RIL has planned to invest heavily in clean and green energy in the next decade. In 2020, RIL had had announced a 15-year commitment to become net carbon zero by 2035. Last year, Reliance announced that they would build 4 Giga Factories for Rs 60,000 crore and invest another Rs 15,000 crore in clean energy. This year, we might get to see an update on one of the Giga Factories.

JioTag
Although we have seen some pieces of this in the wild, the Jio Tag was never officially launched for the masses. This year Jio might just change that. The JioTag is India’s answer to the Apple AirTag. The Jio Tag will basically be a tracking device that will work similarly to how the AirTag works but will be substantially cheaper. While a singly AirTag cost about Rs 3,200, the JioTag is expected to cost about Rs 7,00 or even less.

(Disclosure – Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.)

FP StaffAug 25, 2022 12:18:45 IST

Taiwanese tech giant Asus is expanding its consumer notebook lineup in India by launching six new laptops in its Creator Series. The new line of Asus’ Creator Series laptops is designed especially for content creators and hardcore content consumers.

Asus says these laptops are designed to meet the growing requirement of creators, designers, vloggers, and artists. These laptops sport innovative designs and come with creator-focused technologies to offer powerful performance and a seamless user experience.

“We have designed and built laptops in a way to remove creativity barriers from our workflow to offer incredible performance, design, and the burgeoning ecosystem for creators, who are always on the move and those who prefer to work in their dedicated workspace,” said Arnold Su, Asus’  business head for Consumer and Gaming PC.

The laptops that Asus have launched under their new series are the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED, Zenbook Pro 16X OLED, ProArt StudioBook Pro 16 OLED, and ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED, VivoBook Pro 15 OLED, and VivoBook Pro 16X OLED. The pricing of the new Zenbook lineup starts from INR 1,44,990, the StudioBook lineup from INR 1,99,990, and the VivoBook Pro lineup from INR 67,990/- onwards and will be available online and offline.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED Specifications & Pricing
The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED comes with 12th gen Intel Core i5, i7, and i9 processors and up to 32GB LPDDR5 RAM clocked at 4800MHz and a 512GB/1TB PCIe Gen 4.0×4 Performance SSD.

The ASUS IceCool Plus technology further improves the performance of intensive processes such as 3D rendering, and photo and video editing by cooling the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU. Plus, users can also buy variants with Intel Iris Xe graphics and Intel Evo certification. Prices for the Zenbook Pro 14 Duo start at Rs 1,44,990

Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED Specifications & Pricing
The flagship 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H with 32GB RAM and i7-12700H 16GB RAM configurations are available in the Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602), allowing it to handle any creative task with simplicity. Additionally, the studio-grade 6GB (GDDRR6) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU facilitates sublime graphics performance. It also comes with a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD for speedy workflows.

When it comes to the display, Zenbook Pro 16X comes with an OLED 16-inch 4K 60 Hz OLED HDR with NanoEdge touchscreen technology and stylus support built-in. ASUS has given the I/O due importance because you can find the HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and the SD Express 7.0 card reader. Prices for the Zenbook Pro 16X start at Rs 2,49,990.

Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 16 OLED Specifications & Pricing
Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 16 OLED sports a 16-inch OELD display with 4K resolution, HDR support, 16:10 aspect ratio, and 100 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut. The device is powered by a 12th Gen Intel i9-12900H processor paired with Nvidia RTX A3000 GPU with 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

The company has also added Asus Dial in the laptop. It comes with two SSD slots that can support up to 2TB + 2TB storage capacity. There are two ThunderBolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and an SD Express 7.0 card reader. Prices for the Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 16 starts at Rs 3,29,990.

Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED Specifications & Pricing
The Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED comes in two variants including the flagship 12th Generation of powerful Intel Core i9-12900H and i7-12700H processors with fast NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070Ti with 8GB memory and 3060 with 6GB GPUs, respectively. The laptop sports a 16-inch 4K OLED HDR 16:10 display with up to 550 nits delivers 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, PANTONE Validated along with factory-calibrated Delta-E

Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED Specifications & Pricing
The ViVoBook Pro 16X OLED sports a 16-inch OLED display with 4K resolution. The laptop is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor with up to 32GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU.

There’s up to 1TB SSD which is expandable with an additional M.2 SSD. Users also get a Harman Kardon speaker setup with Dolby Atmos, a fingerprint scanner, and 140W fast charging support in this laptop. The connectivity options include ThunderBolt 4 ports, USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and an SD Express 7.0 card reader. The price starts at Rs 1,59,990.

Asus VivoBook Pro 15 OLED Specifications & Pricing
The VivoBook Pro 15 OLED laptop sports a 15.6-inch OLED display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and full-HD resolution. The laptop is powered by the 12th Generation Intel Core i7-12650H processor supported by up to 16GB RAM and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050Ti GPU. The laptop is equipped with FHD Webcam, Harman/ Kardon speakers with Dolby Atmos, fingerprint scan for security purposes, and efficient thermal design power delivering a 140W fast charge capability.

The pricing starts at Rs Rs 89,990. There will also be AMD Ryzen series-powered variants of the VivoBook Pro 15 OLED (M6500) with NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card, which starts at Rs 67,990.

FP StaffAug 25, 2022 13:43:02 IST

Xiaomi’s Redmi had unveiled the Redmi Note 11SE in May in China, which is powered by the Dimensity 700 SoC, sports a 90Hz LCD, and features a 48MP primary camera. The company announced a new Redmi Note 11SE for India that will come with a different design and completely different specs. In effect, it is a completely different device.

The upcoming Indian version of the Redmi Note 11SE will closely resemble the Redmi Note 10S, and is powered by the Helio G95 chip, and comes in three memory configurations – 6GB+64GB, 6GB+128GB, and 8GB+128GB.

What is surprising is that Xiaomi is relaunching a device that is already doing well in India in the budget segment, without tweaking the device’s design and specs a lot. It seems that even Xiaomi is using the same product shots and marketing material to market the upcoming Redmi Note 11SE.

All SEt for the new performer on the block. 😎

The stunning #RedmiNote11SE arrives on 26th August.

🛒https://t.co/cwYEXedZWw | @Flipkart
Know more: https://t.co/3HcDF7jv6v pic.twitter.com/bi2ccpRKHG

— Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) August 24, 2022

Xiaomi has had a rather peculiar naming strategy with their Redmi Note devices, especially when it comes to the Note 11 nomenclature. Sudhanshu Ambhore, a tech enthusiast took to Twitter to point this out.

Out of curiosity I decided to count and name all devices from the Redmi Note 11 Series launched worldwide. To avoid confusion I’ve mentioned SoC name. pic.twitter.com/X8nanUptX9

— Sudhanshu Ambhore (@Sudhanshu1414) August 24, 2022

We take a look at the specifications, expected price and release date.

Redmi Note 11SE: Specifications
Redmi Note 11SE will have an FHD+ 6.43-inch Super AMOLED display that supports a refresh rate of 60Hz and comes with blue light certification. The new Note 11SE will be powered by the Helio G95 chip and will have the Android 11-based MIUI 12.5 out of the box, which, if true, will be a little disappointing. It will have up to 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage.

For photography, you get a quad camera setup on the rear comprising of a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth sensor. You also get a 13MP selfie camera on the front.

The new Redmi Note 11SE will also have a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W charging support.

The rest of the new Redmi Note 11SE’s highlights include a USB-C port, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and an IR blaster. The smartphone is IP53 rated and comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers, and Hi-Res Audio certification. It also has an NFC chip onboard.

Redmi Note 11SE: Pricing
As far as the price of Redmi Note 11 SE in India is concerned, the company has not revealed it yet. However, it is likely that the smartphone will be sold in India at a price of Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000.

Redmi Note 11SE: Launch and sale
While the Redmi Note 11SE will be announced on August 26, the Note 11 SE will go on sale from August 31 and will be available on Flipkart and Mi.com. As for the colours, the Redmi Note 11SE will have four options, namely Thunder Purple, Cosmic White, Shadow Black, and Bifrost Blue.

FP StaffAug 26, 2022 10:03:11 IST

Vivo launched the X80 series last year in China, and then in India. The X80 series, at the time of its launch, had two devices. The Vivo X80 and the Vivo X80 Pro. Now, Vivo is preparing to launch another smartphone to the series, called the Vivo X80 Pro Plus.

The upcoming Vivo X80 device will include a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and will be the top-tier or flagship smartphone in the X80 series.

The Vivo X80 Pro + will be going on sale sometime in September this year. The smartphone will be launched worldwide, which means the device will also come to India as the replacement for the Vivo X70 Pro+. However, the device will be first launched in India.

The device will come with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, which is based on the 4nm manufacturing process. It promises up to 10 per cent CPU and GPU improvements over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. It is claimed that this SoC uses 30% less power than previous models, which increases its effectiveness and significance.

Vivo X80 Pro+ expected specifications and price
The Vivo X80 Pro+ will have a 6.8-inch 2K AMOLED display and will support a refresh rate of 120Hz. Additionally, it is rumoured to enable 120W rapid charging. It is also speculated that for the device will have up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of storage. The device will also have a gimbal-style stabilization system and Zeiss-tuned cameras. It is also likely to support 120W quick charging.

The Vivo X80 Pro+ is likely going to have a quad camera setup on the back. The cameras will include a 50MP primary camera sensor, a 48MP Sony IMX598 secondary sensor, another 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor, and a 50MP Samsung JN2 sensor.

The Vivo X80 Pro+ is said to be the X80 lineup’s presumably most expensive smartphone. It will likely cost more than the Vivo X80 Pro, which costs Rs 79,999.

FP StaffAug 26, 2022 11:40:54 IST

Sony recently announced that it will be increasing the retail price of the PlayStation 5 across the world mainly due to the global economic environment, and rising inflation. Sony President and CEO, Jim Ryan, announced the price increase on the official PlayStation Blog. 

Various markets will be affected by the hike in price including several countries in Europe, Japan, Canada, China, Mexico and Australia. However, the PS5 will not see a price hike in the US.

“The global economic environment is a challenge that many of you around the world are no doubt experiencing”, Ryan wrote on the PS Blog. “We’re seeing high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on many industries. Based on these challenging economic conditions, SIE has made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price (RRP) of PlayStation 5 in select markets across Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), as well as Canada. There will be no price increase in the United States.”

On average, the prices have been raised by about 10 per cent. 

The PlayStation 5, in Europe, is now priced at EUR 549.99 or roughly Rs. 44,000 for the Blu-ray edition and EUR 449.99 or roughly Rs. 36,000 for the Digital Edition. The gaming console’s price in the UK has been increased to GBP 479.99 (roughly Rs. 45,400) for the Blu-ray edition, and GBP 389.99 (roughly Rs. 36,900) for the PS5 digital edition. Earlier, the PS5 Blu-ray edition was priced at EUR 499.99 (roughly Rs. 39,900), and the digital edition was priced at EUR 399.99 (roughly Rs. 31,200) in Europe.

Earlier, in the UK, the console was priced at GBP 449.99 or roughly Rs. 42,500 for the Blu-ray edition, and GBP 359.99 or roughly Rs. 34,000. The price has increased by about 10 per cent for the Blu-ray edition and about 12 per cent for the digital edition in Europe. In the UK, the price has increased by about 7 per cent for the Blu-ray edition and about 8 per cent for the digital edition.

In India as well, the prices are likely to go up by at least Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 at the next restock.

One might assume that this would dissuade many people away from the PS5 and towards the Xbox Series S/X. However, that is very unlikely. Sony has enjoyed great success with the PlayStation 5, outselling Microsoft’s Xbox. According to Ampere Analysis, Sony has shipped 21 million PS5s as of June 2022, while Microsoft has only shipped 13.8 million. Furthermore, one of the best-selling gaming consoles of this generation.

FP StaffAug 26, 2022 13:57:27 IST

Xiaomi has launched the Redmi Note 11 SE in India. This is not a brand-new phone, though. Redmi Note 11 SE is a repurposed Redmi Note 10S with the same exact design and specs.

The newly launched device isn’t exactly new. The Redmi Note 11 SE is essentially a repackaged Redmi Note 10S which was launched last year. This means that the Redmi Note 11 SE has the same hardware and basically the same design. 

The handset has a centre-positioned punch-hole cutout for the selfie snapper, a rectangular layout that has quad-camera sensors, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security and multiple colour options.

Although it may be confusing as to why Xiaomi decided to rebrand and relaunch an already existing model with a different name, it actually is a brilliant move to refresh an existing product and make more money.

We take a look at the specifications of the Redmi Note 11 SE, the pricing and the launch offers.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 SE specifications
Like the Redmi Note 10S, Redmi Note 11 SE comes with a 6.43-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and a hole-punch cut-out at the centre. The display is an AMOLED unit that supports a 60Hz refresh rate, 1100 nits peak brightness, DCI-P3 colour gamut, and Low blue light certified by SGS.

Under the hood, we find a MediaTek Helio G95 SoC paired with ARM Mali-G76 MC4. The phone gets up to 6GB LPDDR4x RAM and up to 64 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. It runs on Android 11-based MIUI 12.5 custom skin out of the box, which, let’s face it, is a shame. It could have at least had been updated to MIUI 13.

The Redmi Note 11 SE has a quad-camera setup on the back, with a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP depth sensor. There is also a 13MP camera at the front for selfies.

There is a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast-charging support, although, you do not get a charging brick with the device. For connectivity, we get 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth v5.0, NFC, an infrared sensor, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a USB Type-C port.

Rounding off the device is an IP53 rating and dual speakers. Biometrics are taken care of by a side-mounted physical fingerprint reader. 

Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 SE Price in India and launch offers
The Redmi Note 11 SE will cost Rs 13,499 for the sole variant which comes with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The phone will be available in White, Black, Thunder Purple, and Blue colour options. The Redmi Note 11 SE will be available from August 31,  12:00 PM IST on mi.com and Flipkart.

Ameya DalviAug 26, 2022 16:05:11 IST

While a lot of new phones made it to our list of phones under Rs 30,000 this month, the picture is a little different in the sub-40K price bracket. The phones from our previous list put up a much stronger fight to hold on to their place. Of course, we have a couple of new options this time and the price of some of the older ones has changed this month. All factors considered, we have selected eight phones for you to choose from this month under Rs 40,000. We know the choice is not that simple, but we have tried to simplify it for you.

Best phones to buy under Rs 40,000 in India

iQOO 9 SE 5G/ iQOO 9 5G
The iQOO 9 SE 5G from the Vivo sub-brand retains its place in the list and remains a great option. It is powered by Qualcomm’s previous flagship Snapdragon 888 chip, which is still extremely powerful for any task you throw at it. You can get its top variant with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage easily in this budget. It has a 6.62-inch HDR10+ compliant Full HD+ AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 1300 nits and 120 Hz refresh rate.

The rear camera department consists of a 48MP primary camera with OIS, along with a 13MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The 16MP front camera does a good job with selfies and video calls. The iQOO 9 SE 5G has a 4500 mAh battery that lasts over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 66W fast charger claims to charge it fully in under 40 minutes. The phone runs Android 12 with FunTouch OS 12.

But that’s not the only iQOO phone you can get your hands on this month under 40K. At the time of writing, the generally more expensive iQOO 9 5G was also spotted at just under Rs 40,000, but its 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant. It offers several enhancements over the SE in various departments, but those in camera and charging being the most prominent. This phone too has three cameras at the back but the primary camera offers Gimbal stabilisation and the 2MP depth sensor is replaced by a more useful 13MP 50 mm professional portrait camera. The bundled 120W fast charger claims to charge it fully in just 18 minutes!

iQOO 9 5G price in India: Rs 39,990 for 8 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

iQOO 9 SE 5G price in India: Rs 37,990 for 12 GB RAM/ 256 GB storage

Realme GT 2/ Realme GT Neo 3/ OnePlus 10R
Just like iQOO, we have two Realme phones too with a lot of similarities and just two key differences. The Realme GT 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 SoC, while the newer Realme GT Neo 3 is powered by Mediatek’s flagship Dimensity 8100 chip, which is comparable in performance. While the former has a 6.62-inch AMOLED display, the latter has a slightly larger 6.7-inch AMOLED screen that supports 10-bit colour depth. Both screens are HDR10+ compliant, have 120 Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

You get 256 GB internal storage variants of both phones in this budget, the GT 2 flaunts 12 GB RAM as opposed to 8 GB on the Neo 3. The camera department is identical for both with a 50MP primary camera with OIS that captures some impressive shots in different modes and lighting. It is accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide snapper and a 2MP macro camera. The 16MP front camera handles selfies and video calls quite well. 

Both phones have 5000 mAh batteries that keep them going for over a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled fast chargers can juice them up fully in a little over half an hour. Realme GT 2 as well as Realme GT Neo 3 run Android 12 with Realme UI 3.0. If you prefer the Realme GT Neo 3, then there is another phone with exact specifications that you should strongly consider before putting your money down. We are talking about the OnePlus 10R that is now available for a similar price and offers more RAM. 

Realme GT 2 price in India: Rs 38,999 for 12 GB RAM/ 256 GB storage

Realme GT Neo 3 price in India: Rs 38,999 for 8 GB RAM/ 256 GB storage

OnePlus 10R price in India: Rs 38,999 for 12 GB RAM/ 256 GB storage

Poco F4 5G
The top variant of the recently launched Poco F4 5G is also a solid option in this budget given its sub-35K price tag. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC, and you get 12 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage. You get an impressive 6.67-inch AMOLED Full HD+ screen with 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliance and 1300 nits peak brightness. The display is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. 

In addition to an impressive display, it has a stylish design with a glass back, and measures just 7.7 mm in thickness. Photography department is handled by a 64MP primary camera with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. The 20MP front camera is good enough for selfies and video calls. Its 4500 mAh battery lasts over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 67W fast charger promises to juice it up fully in under 40 minutes. The Poco F4 5G runs Android 12 with MIUI 13. It is one of the rare phones that offers a 2-year warranty.

Poco F4 5G price in India: Rs 34,999 for 12 GB RAM/ 256 GB storage

Motorola Edge 20 Pro
The Motorola Edge 20 Pro comfortably holds on to its spot in this list courtesy of some solid features. This phone is powered by a Snapdragon 870 chip and comes with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. Its large 6.7-inch Full HD+ OLED display is quite impressive and flaunts a 144 Hz refresh rate along with HDR10+ compliance and capability to display over a billion colour shades. There is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection against scratches at the front and back.

The photography department on the Motorola Edge 20 Pro is quite versatile. It is helmed by a 108MP primary camera and with an impressive support cast. You get a 16MP ultra-wide camera and an 8MP telephoto camera with OIS that facilitates 5X optical zoom. The 32MP front camera is bound to impress the selfie crowd. Its 4500 mAh battery lasts over a day of moderate use and supports 30W fast charging. This phone launched with Android 11, and like most Motorola phones, you get a clean and near-stock user interface. The Android 12 update has started rolling out.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro price in India: Rs 34,999 for 8 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G remains a good option in this budget for brand conscious buyers, and is now even more affordable. It has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED HDR10+ compliant display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It also has an IP68 rated ingress protection. It is powered by Qualcomm’s previous generation flagship chip, Snapdragon 865. You get 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage that can be expanded further with a microSD card; a rare feature in premium phones. Android 12 update with Samsung’s One UI 4.0 is available for this device. 

Photography department consists of a 12MP primary camera with dual-pixel PDAF and OIS, a 12MP ultra-wide camera and an 8MP telephoto camera with OIS for up to 3X optical zoom. The camera quality is excellent across different modes as one expects from a Samsung S series phone. You also have a 32MP camera up front to cater to the selfie enthusiasts. Its 4500 mAh battery lasts for well over a day of moderate use. It supports regular fast charging as well as fast wireless charging.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE price in India: Rs 33,090 for 8 GB RAM/ 128 GB storage

FP TrendingAug 26, 2022 19:42:01 IST

Astronomers at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are always on the search for new planets and stars across the universe. One of the main objectives is to find proof of liquid water in extraterrestrial sources.

Now, astronomers may have identified a potential planet covered in water. The team of researchers used NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) along with ground-based telescopic instruments to identify an exoplanet, a planet outside our solar system that may be potentially rocky like Earth but might be covered in massive oceans.

Planet TOI-1452 b was identified by a team of researchers from the University of Montreal using TESS and the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) observatory, as a ‘super-Earth’ class of planet. The planet is orbiting a binary system of red dwarfs, the end of the line for one of the smallest classes of stars. The planet is at a short distance away from the main star, its ‘year’ only lasting 11 days but is still in the habitable zone where liquid water could exist because the star’s luminosity and heat are quite low.

This classification means that the planet is much more massive than Earth but still a rocky territorial planet and significantly less massive than ice giants (like Uranus and Neptune) and gas giants (like Saturn and Jupiter).

TOI-1452 b, in particular, is 70 percent larger than Earth but roughly 5 times more massive. This disproportionate density means that TOI-1452 b may have incredibly deep oceans, much like those suspected to be hidden on Europa, Titan and Ganymede, the Jovian and Saturnian moons.

Interestingly, Planet TOI-1452 b is relatively nearby in our cosmic neighbourhood. The planet is ‘only’ 100 light years away, which means that it would ‘only’ take us a century while travelling at the speed of light (which is physically impossible) to reach the planet.

While further studies of Planet TOI-1452 b are needed to confirm the presence of water on its surface along with other details, the planet is perfectly positioned to be studied by the James Webb Space Telescope. The planet is not the closest ‘super-Earth’ that we know of, Proxima Centauri b is just over 4 light years away and technically in the habitable zone. But Planet TOI-1452 b is an exoplanet that is both close enough and may be full of water. Though the JWST will need to study the planet to confirm the presence of H20.

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FP StaffAug 26, 2022 13:14:41 IST

It has been nearly two years since NVIDIA launched the RTX 3000 series of graphics cards. This is the year when they launch the successor to one of the most influential, as well as the most controversial piece of gaming technology.

Now the company is nearly ready to show its next generation of GPUs, the RTX 4000 series.

NVIDIA confirmed during an earnings call that it will reveal its new architecture for consumer graphics cards next month, at the company’s GTC 2022 keynote on September 20, 2022. We might not see new graphics cards ready to buy on that day, but we’ll get a peek at the general architecture that will power upcoming GeForce GPUs.

NVIDIA also revealed on the call that demand for gaming hardware was down 33% from this time last year, and 44% from the previous quarter. The company said that is due to “challenging market conditions.” The global economy is experiencing some inflation right now, so fewer people are likely ready to spend hundreds of dollars on gaming hardware. However, demand has also dropped — crypto mining is less profitable right now (if at all), so crypto farms aren’t buying up all available supply like was happening a few months ago.

Nvidia’s next-gen RTX 40 series of graphics cards were originally rumoured for release sometime in late 2022 – and given the two-year gap between the RTX 20 series and RTX 30 series, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

It was suggested in April 2022 that the AD102 GPU, the GPU expected to power the top-end RTX 4090, had entered the testing phase. If true, it’s a good sign that development of the next-gen range is coming along nicely, and barring any unforeseen testing issues, the design of the GPU is likely finalised.  Interestingly, other leakers also seem to believe that the RTX 4090 will be the first, and possibly only, 4000 series launch in 2022. The reason, according to analysts is “too many stocks”.

This refers to the rumour that Nvidia has a lot of RTX 30 Series GPU inventory left in stock due to overproduction and the saturation of GPUs in the second-hand market amidst the latest cryptocurrency crash.

Rumours suggest that the RTX 4090 will feature 126 Streaming Multiprocessors, providing a total of 16,128 CUDA cores, and will sport 24GB of GDDR6X memory clocked at 21 Gbps

The RTX 4080 could offer as many as 10,240 CUDA Cores, 16GB of GDDR6X VRAM clocked at 21Gbps, a boost of 4GB compared to the 12GB GDDRX-enabled RTX 3080 Ti with an increased 420W TDP.

The RTX 4070 could feature 7,168 CUDA Cores, 10 or 12GB of slightly slower GDDR5 VRAM clocked at 18Gbps, with a 300W TDP.

When it comes to protecting your PC, you can go a bit software crazy. There’s VPN software that lets you surf securely from an offsite computer; nanny software that lets parents control what their kids can access online; anti-malware software that protects against things like ransomware and phishing attempts; ad-blocking software; and, of course, anti-virus software. Or there’s Norton 360 that wraps all of this up in a neat little software bundle. It’s not cheap, but it is complete. 

Norton 360 offers four different levels of protection that range from affordable to ouch. But, depending on your needs and how many other software programs you may be able to stop paying for, even the maximum subscription level might still be a bargain for you.

The Standard level costs $29.99 per year and includes protection against viruses and other online threats; a secure virtual private network (VPN); ad-blocking; anonymous browsing and bank-grade encryption for all your surfing activity. Norton also throws in a password manager to keep all your login details in one secure place plus 10 GB of included secure online storage for backing up your PC and 24/7 customer support. 

Stepping up to the Deluxe level will cost you $49.99 per year and gets you protection for up to five devices, 50 GB of online storage, and parental control of which sites your kids can access. 

The next level up, Select, costs $99.99 per year. For that significant increase in price, you get services from LifeLock, an identity-theft-protection company Norton bought in 2017. At this level, in addition to all the services offered at the Deluxe level, you also get LifeLock’s stolen-funds reimbursement insurance of up to $25,000 if any of your online accounts are breached, as well as alerts about the unauthorized use of your social security number and changes to your credit status. You get more insurance as well: up to $25,000 in reimbursement for personal expenses and up to $1 million to cover legal fees if your identity is stolen. You are also able to monitor your credit with one of the major credit reporting agencies. Plus, your online storage limit increases to 100 GB. 

If you really want to splash out on security, the final level of Norton 360 might be right for you. It’s called Ultimate Plus and it costs a whopping $299 per year. For that, your online storage limit bumps up to 500 GB, the stolen funds reimbursement limit goes up to $1 million and you can monitor your credit at all three major bureaus. Norton/LifeLock also throws in the scanning of court records; data breach notifications; alerts when someone applies for or seeks to transfer bank accounts in your name; and alerts when there are suspicious changes to your investment accounts. 

So are any of these plans right for you? Probably.

Our favorite choice of the bunch is the $49.99 per year Deluxe platform because of the five-fold increase in your online storage and allowable number of devices. If you feel that identity theft might be a real issue for you, then stepping up to the Select plan with LifeLock certainly makes sense. And, if money isn’t an issue for you, then you really can’t get a better all-in-one online protection suite than the Ultimate Plus plan.

Be aware, though, that the prices in this article are all based on Norton’s one-year introductory plan. After your first year, the cost of the different levels climbs significantly as you can see here. The adjusted prices are certainly at the top of the range for cybersecurity software, but you are getting protection from one of the giants in the field and you are getting a multi-pronged solution. Still, it might be best to sign up for a year and set yourself a reminder on your calendar to look for a cheaper solution when it’s time to renew. 

Download Norton 360 Here

FP StaffAug 25, 2022 16:22:24 IST

5G services in India are soon going to be operational. As per recent reports, the Government of India would officially launch a number of 5G services at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress, or IMC, on September 29, 2022. 

To recall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech had said that the 5G will launch in India sooner than one can expect and its speed will be 10 times faster than 4G network.

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are in a race of sorts to launch the first 5G services in India. If certain reports are to be believed the telecommunication giants are going to launch their services by the end of this month.

5G services in India will be rolled out in a phased manner. In the first phase, only 13 selected cities would get speed 5G internet services from either Airtel, Jio, or both. These 13 cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

Reliance Industries Group announced hosting its Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2022 later this month. As per reports, the meeting will be held virtually on August 29, during which, it is being speculated that Reliance will be announcing the rollout of 5G services, as well as Jio’s upcoming 5G smartphone.

It is important to note that not everyone in these cities will be getting 5G services from the first day itself. It isvery likely that most telecom companies will provide access to 5G in selected areas of these cities, which have not been confirmed yet.  

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday asked telecom service providers to gear up for the 5G launch post the issuance of spectrum allocation letters. The DoT has received payment of around ₹17,876 crore from service providers like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea for the spectrum they won in a recent auction.

The Department of Telecom had also issued spectrum assignment letters on the same day the successful bidders of radio waves made upfront payments.

FP StaffAug 25, 2022 17:31:47 IST

Apple has officially announced that they will be organising a launch event on September 7.

While the Cupertino-based tech giant hasn’t revealed anything specific about the launch event, as in what all devices will they be showcasing, it is very likely that Apple will be launching the new iPhone 14 series, that is the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, and possibly, an iPhone Mini as well,  at this event.

There is also a strong possibility that Apple is also gearing up to launch at least three new Apple Watch models: the Watch Series 8, a refreshed SE and an all-new rugged “Pro” model, which has been designed for athletes who partake in extreme sports.

We may also finally see the release of the AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro hasn’t received an update since its initial launch in 2019. In any way, expect the next generation of AirPods Pro to look radically different. The new AirPods Pro may resemble the Beats Fit Pro, potentially with an in-ear wing tip design that drops the stem.

Although unlikely, it is speculated that Apple may just launch a new iPad and a couple of new Macs. However, they also have to stick to their annual release schedule for obvious reasons, so as we said, it is unlikely that Apple will launch the upcoming iPads and Macs in September and not in October as planned.

With so many new devices lined up, naturally, tech enthusiasts and Apple fans alike want to watch Apple’s Far Out event.

Go for launch. Tune in for a special #AppleEvent on September 7 at 10 a.m. PT. 

Tap the ❤️ and we’ll send you a reminder on event day. pic.twitter.com/T9o7qJt72E

— Apple (@Apple) August 24, 2022

However, Apple has a very limited number of spots for in-person attendance at the event. Naturally, they will be live streaming the Far Out event.

If you’re interested you can catch the stream of the Far Out event on Apple’s YouTube channel, their website, on AppleTV as well as across their social media platforms. Apple will start the event at 10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), so in India, the event will begin at 10:30 PM.

Mehul Reuben DasAug 25, 2022 14:58:20 IST

Big Tech or the largest tech corporations, would like us to believe that they really care about their user’s data and privacy. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for all these years, you should know that this is a myth.

The reality is, that all tech companies, even the ones who claim that they have a “user privacy first” policy, collect some data or the other. Almost all the big tech companies have been accused of spying on these data and using them for personal gains, mainly through advertising and some other covert marketing operations.

A recent analysis conducted by StockApps.com has revealed which company collects the most data and just how much data of yours gets tracked.

StockApps’s analysis has revealed that of all the tech companies that one interacts with on a day-to-day basis, Google collects the highest amount of user data, much more than what Meta, formerly Facebook was accused of. 

Google collects 39 types of data points in comparison to Twitter which collects 24 types of data points making it the second highest data aggregator. Amazon collects 23 types of data, Facebook tracks 14 kinds of data and the least number of data points are collected by Apple which is 12.

“Most people do not have the time or patience to read privacy policies that can be several pages long for each website they visit. Also, it is quite unlikely that all users have a background in law to properly grasp the privacy policy,” Edith Reads from StockApps.com said in a statement.

Given that Google’s entire business model depends on data, this should come as no surprise. Cyber security experts have often postulated that instead of thinking of Google as a benevolent service provider, it would be better to think of them as an advertising and marketing company, that their real customers aren’t end-users who use their services, but big corporations who have something to sell.

Back in 2021, a group of researchers, from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, found that Google collects about 20 times more data from Android devices than Apple Does from their iPhones.

Facebook and Twitter also save far more data than is necessary. However, Facebook primarily stores the data that users enter. When it comes to user privacy protection, Apple does a better job than Amazon with storing only those data that are required to keep users’ accounts active. According to the report, this is because their website is less dependent on advertising revenue than Google, Twitter, and Facebook are. 

However, that is about to change. In recent months, Apple’s revenue from advertising has grown exponentially. Naturally, they will be exploring their options down the line.

FP StaffAug 24, 2022 13:12:37 IST

It is practically impossible to survive on the internet and not have a Google account, especially if you have an Android device. Naturally, then it would be safe to assume that there are a lot of people who use Gmail as their de facto email service provider.

Gmail has a habit of updating and tweaking its design and functionalities. In late January of this year, Google announced a new view that integrates Gmail, Chat, and Meet all in one location under the main menu.

At first, users could opt-in and test the new design or stick with what was familiar. Now though, the design has begun rolling out to all users as default. This has led to Google getting a lot of hate and backlash.

Having said that, Google is allowing users to switch back to the older view, at least for some more time now. Here’s what you need to do.

How to change your Gmail back to the old design
Just follow these simple steps to revert back to the old design – 

1. Click on the Quick settings gear icon in the upper right corner.
2. Then, click on Go back to the original view.
3. If you want to switch to the new view, repeat the process, and select Try out the new Gmail view.
4. Alternatively, you can toggle the views in the See all settings menu under the General and Main menu.

However, it would be best if you prepare yourself to use the new design interface. You won’t be able to toggle between the two forever. Moreover, there will come a time when Google will simply not let users switch to the old design.

Google had planned on making the new view the default experience for users by the end of Q2 2022. Google has also announced that “starting August 5th, users who had not opted-in will begin seeing the new experience by default, but can revert to classic Gmail via settings. However, within the next two months, this will become the default experience with no option to revert back.”

FP StaffAug 24, 2022 13:33:34 IST

WhatsApp is apparently working on an update that will allow users to recover or retrieve messages that they have deleted by mistake. The new update will also allow admins in group chats to delete messages for all.

For the time being, the new features are being tested for iOS’s WhatsApp Beta users in version 22.18.0.70. However, the feature will soon be rolled out to Android users as well.

The ability to retrieve deleted messages, according to the report, will only be for the messages that you delete for yourself (delete for me), not the messages that you “delete for everyone.” A snack bar will show up informing users that the message has been erased and they can undo it. It is not known how long users will have to retrieve a deleted message.

The Meta-owned instant messaging app is also said to be bringing the ability for group admins to delete any message for everyone in a group. This was also spotted by WhatsApp tracker WABetaInfo, and the feature is currently available for some beta testers on WhatsApp for iOS. 

Some features are coming soon for more users: past participants, reaction preview, admin delete, status updates within the chat list, and the ability to retrieve deleted messages by using “undo”. https://t.co/POKP51kEo6

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) August 23, 2022

“If you are looking for a fast way to check if the feature is available, just check if you can delete any recent message from a group where you’re an admin: if “delete for everyone” shows up when you try to delete a message sent from another participant, it means the feature is available for your account!” the report says.

This feature, which seems to have been inspired from Slack, is a little different from what we find in Slack, where a group admin can delete a message without anyone knowing. In WhatsApp members of the group will be shown a message, that would read “This message has been deleted by a group admin.”

Although it is not known when the feature will go live for all users, given that it has been released in a few selected beta versions, it would be safe to assume that in an upcoming update in the near future, this feature gets rolled out.

FP StaffAug 24, 2022 15:16:22 IST

Google has been making a push into local languages like no other app ecosystem. So much so, that apart from Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi and a whole lot of other Indian languages, the Google Pay app in India also supports ‘Hinglish’ that is Hindi, written in the Roman script.

For a lot of us, this may look like a gimmick initially, but given that Hinglsih has been the de facto smartphone language for most Indians, it only makes sense that Google would start supporting something like this. Moreover, it does not matter if you’re using an Android device or an iPhone, Google Pay’s Hinglish feature works across both platforms.

To make the app more user-friendly, Google has announced Hinglish language in addition to the text-to-speech, split bills, and the MyShop features. So once you opt-in for this language option on the Google Pay app, some of the options will be shown in Hinglish. For example, “New Payment” will appear as “Naya Payment,” while “Show transaction history” will be translated to “Transaction History Dekhein,” etc.

To enable the feature on your device, you need to ensure that you have the latest updates for your OS, and that your Google Pay is also updated to its latest version.

Now, all you need to do is follow these simple and basic steps.

1. Open your Google Pay app on your Android device or iPhone.
2. Tap on the profile picture in the top right-hand corner.
3. From the menu that appears, navigate to Settings. There, click on the Payments Info option.
4. After this, click on Personal Info.
5. Tap on the Language option and click on Change.
6. From the list that appears, select Hinglish as your preferred language.

FP StaffAug 24, 2022 07:53:17 IST

If we go strictly by sales, Xiaomi is the number three smartphone brand in the world, and the number one smartphone brand in India, with a market share of 23 per cent as of Q1 2022. However, the times have been changing for the Chinese telecommunications giant, and fast.

Xiaomi has been under a lot of scrutinies all over the world, but especially more so in India. Indian authorities have been investigating Xiaomi and a number of other Chinese smartphone brands over allegations of money laundering, tax evasion and other misconduct.

In spite of all this, the smartphone brand remains popular among its customers. However, it hasn’t found that sort of popularity with the enthusiast community. Well, it seems that Xiaomi seems to have realised this and is trying to turn over a new leaf.

Xiaomi has been getting a lot of flak online from both users and tech enthusiasts regarding lots of stuff, bugs in software, ads in UI, and more.

Xiaomi might be prepping up a new sub-brand, or a new series of smartphones tailored to the tech enthusiast community. It is rumoured that this new sub-brand or series would be coming with a near-stock Android experience.

A recent report suggests that the first smartphone from Xiaomi’s new sub-brand would come with a Snapdragon 700 series SoC, and will offer a bloatware-free experience. It also suggests that the smartphone will be priced under Rs 25,000. Of the first two smartphones from the new sub-brand one will be based on the Snapdragon 765 SoC and the other would be powered by Snapdragon 778G SoC.

Xiaomi is yet to decide on what to call the phones, whether to revive the done and dusted A series or come up with a new sub-brand like Poco.

When they started out, Xiaomi used to be a favourite among tech enthusiasts. However, they fell off their radar in recent years when the brand started pandering to the mainstream and several of Xiaomi’s competitors came in with cut-throat prices.

MIUI, once a mainstay of Xiaomi devices has turned out to be a polarizing feature now.  Thanks to the bloatware and unnecessary ads that the UI serves up, it is more or less hated by tech enthusiasts. 

Stock Android, as we know gets praise from tech enthusiasts. A clean, ad-free, and bloatware-free Android experience from Xiaomi with an aggressive pricing strategy that Xiaomi of yesteryears is known for, will ensure a massive hit.

FP TrendingAug 23, 2022 19:12:40 IST

One of the biggest benefits of the modern world is Wi-Fi. However, it can be tough to remember different Wi-Fi passwords for your home and office networks, unless you save them in your system. But if you have forgotten to do that, you will find it difficult to log in to the network the next time. If you have ever been in a situation where you are unable to access your Wi-Fi connection on any device where the password has not been saved, you can get the password quite easily if you are a Windows user. If your system has Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 or Windows 11 and is already connected to the Wi-Fi network, you can easily find your password.

Here are the steps to see your Wi-Fi network password in Windows:
― You can visit the Network and Sharing Center on your laptop or PC. The method to access it depends on the Windows software you have:
 If you have Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, you must type ‘Network’ in the search bar and then choose Network and Sharing Center.
 If you have Windows 10, you can go to the Start button and choose Settings. Go to Network & Internet and then select Network and Sharing Center.
 You can go to Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center if you have Windows 11.

― In Network and Sharing Center, choose your Wi-Fi network name.
― In Wi-Fi status, select Wireless Properties.
― Go to the Security tab then choose the Show Characters check box.
― Your Wi-Fi password will be present in the Network security key. Note it down.

On another device, you can connect to the Wi-Fi network as you normally do and enter the password. Your system will then be connected to the Wi-Fi.

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FP StaffAug 23, 2022 17:13:11 IST

Zomato-owned Blinkit has recently announced to deliver printouts at your doorsteps in few minutes. While this service may be useful for parents and working professionals alike, the service has been criticised for its pricing.

The Zomato-owned company’s new service has sparked several reactions. While some welcomed the decision, others were shocked to see the price list. Many expressed that the printing stores in every locality charge Rs 2-3 for both side printing services. This initiated the discussion that the introduction of such services may fail because of the high prices.

The company said that in order to utilise this service, users will have to upload documents on the Blinkit app. As per Blinkit, these documents will be deleted as soon as the printout has been taken.

We take a look at how to place a printing order with Blinkit, its pricing and other relevant details.

Blinkit printing services: How to order
The printouts that users want to receive must be uploaded via the Blinkit app. The app is supporting only A4 size printouts for the time being, but they plan to expand. All widely used file formats, including JPEG, JPG, PNG, and PDF files, are supported. The maximum size for each document has been restricted to 10MB.

Blinkit printing services: Pricing
For a black and white printout, the charges are Rs 9 per page and Rs 19 for colour printouts. On top of this, the service also charges a delivery fee of ₹ 25 for every order. Customers do not need to order in bulk to get printouts as there is currently no minimum order requirement for using this new service.

Blinkit printing services: Other details:
The new service on the platform arrives as Zomato is set to experiment with cross-leveraging its customer base for Blinkit and vice versa.

“We will also start working on integrating the delivery fleet back-ends which should drive higher delivery efficiency over time,” Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said recently.

Tech integrations between the two companies will accelerate the pace of progress at both ends, he added.

According to the company, the losses for Blinkit are coming down every month, from Rs 2,040 million (about $26 million) in January 2022 to Rs 929 million ($12 million) in July.

The company said that Blinkit has also shut down a number of unviable dark stores, which were not scaling and the team will continue to evaluate non-performing stores.

In just six months, the Blinkit business has scaled to 20 per cent of Zomato`s food delivery GOV while being present in less than 15 cities.