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30/11/2021

16/09/2020

Google Launches TikTok Rival ‘YouTube Shorts’ in India

With TikTok out of commission in India and faced with an uncertain future in the US, YouTube has launched its own short-format video platform that it hopes will be able to fill the void created by the Chinese-owned viral video app. Called YouTube Shorts, the new service will allow users to create short videos of up to 15 seconds and upload it to the platform.

YouTube is rolling out what it calls an ‘early beta’ of the new service in India, with plans to eventually make it available globally. Shorts will be initially available within the regular YouTube app on Android, but the company says it will also be available on iOS soon.

The service offers a ‘multi-camera segment’ that enables creators to shoot different videos and stitch them together using a set of built-in editing tools. Apart from that, creators can also monitor the speed of their videos and add music to their videos using YouTube’s song library. There’s also a timer and countdown system that will enable creators to record their videos hands-free.

Google Google Chrome YouTube

16/09/2020

LG Teases Phone with A Slide-out Screen During Wing Event

LG officially unveiled its unique LG Wing smartphone with a swiveling primary display last night. The company streamed the pre-recorded event on YouTube and towards the end, LG shared a small teaser of its next device in the ‘LG Explorer Project’.

The teaser shows a slide-out mechanism where the display expands from the bottom half of the phone. From what we see in the teaser, you can possibly expand the display for media consumption and other use-cases where a large display will come in handy and shrink it for a compact form-factor when you’re on the go.

The clip ends with the phrase ‘Hold your breath.’ LG did not reveal anything else about this sliding phone, which might be the second device in its ambitious Explorer Project. Now that the LG Wing has been unveiled, it might take a while until LG announces this sliding phone.

LG is not the first smartphone brand to work on phones with sliding displays. Earlier this year, leaked images of a TCL prototype showed a similar mechanism. The major difference here is that TCL’s prototype expands horizontally while LG is working to expand the display vertically. I’m not sure how expanding the display vertically is going to help the user. It will only make the device appear like those elongated iPhone memes instead of a usable tablet form factor.

LG Electronics CA Flipkart

15/09/2020

Redmi 9i with MediaTek Helio G25 SoC, 5,000mAh battery launched in India

Redmi 9i was launched in India on Tuesday as the seventh smartphone in the Redmi 9 series. The newest addition joins the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi Note 9, Redmi 9 Prime, Redmi 9, and Redmi 9A smartphones. The new Redmi 9i slots between the entry-level Redmi 9A and the Redmi 9, ensuring customers have multiple Xiaomi phones in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment. The budget smartphone touts a waterdrop display, 4GB RAM, 5,000mAh battery, and a gaming-centric MediaTek Helio G25 chipset, among other things.

Key Specs
* 6.53-inch HD+ display, 20:9
* 13MP rear camera
* 5MP selfie camera
* 3 colours
* Protection by P2i coating
* 5000mAh battery

As you can tell from the specifications, the Redmi 9i is essentially the Redmi 9A but with more RAM and storage for a better performance and multitasking experience.Redmi 9i India price is set at Rs 8,299 for the base variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The 4GB + 128GB options is priced at Rs 9,299. The first sale of the Redmi 9i will be on September 18th at 12 PM through Flipkart, Mi.com, Mi Home Stores, and offline retail partners. The smartphone will be available in Midnight Black, Nature Green, and Sea Blue colour options.

Flipkart Amazon.com

15/09/2020

Realme C17 Specs Leaked; to Launch on September 21 in Bangladesh

Realme is planning to launch its upcoming smartphone – Realme C17 first in Bangladesh. On its official Facebook handle, the company revealed that the Realme C17 will be announced on September 21 in the country. The product launch event is set to take place at 12 PM local time (11:30 AM IST).

Rumored Specs
*6.5 inches HD+ 90Hz IPS LCD display
*SD 460 SoC
*(13MP+8MP+2MP+2MP) quad rear cameras and 8MP front camera
*6GB+128GB
*5000mAh battery with 18W charging

The handset will be available in two color variants namely Navy Blue and Lake Green. In case all these specifications sound strikingly similar to you, you’re not alone because this is almost similar to what the recently-launched Oppo A53 offers. Moreover, the rumored OnePlus Clover also comes close in most of the specifications.

OnePlus OPPO realme vivo Vivo

15/09/2020

The Pixel 5 Will Launch on September 30

This year feels weird, and to cap it all off, phone launches are going helter skelter. iPhones, which usually launch early in September are delayed, and now the Pixel, which usually launches in October, is launch early.

Yeah, Google has confirmed the launch date for the next Pixel flagship, and it’s coming on September 30th. The invite is for a virtual event (obviously), and Google mentions that the company will talk about its new Chromecast, smart speaker, and Pixel smartphones.

We already know almost everything there is to know about Google’s hardware efforts this year. We know about the Sabrina dongle that’s likely to come with Chromecast and Google TV (yeah, Android TV is being renamed back to Google TV), we know of Google’s new smart speakers, and of course, the Pixel phones are infamous for being leaked every which way before they launch.

Based on leaked renders, we know that the Pixel 5 will come with dual cameras, and a punch hole display along with a mostly recognisable Pixel design. There’s not going to be any Project Soli hardware on the phone this year, but the renders do show a rear mounted fingerprint scanner.

The surprises start under the hood, where Google’s flagship is expected to pack in the Snapdragon 765G instead of a flagship 8-series processor. That will take some explaining, but hopefully it will also reflect in the launch price for the phone. Also expected in a 90Hz display, up to 8GB RAM, and a 4,000mAh battery.

The event will begin on September 30 at 11am PT (that’s 11:30pm IST for us in India) so stay tuned.

Google Google Chrome

15/09/2020

LG Wing with Swiveling Screen, Snapdragon 765G & 64MP Triple Cameras Goes Official

Smartphone innovation is not dead and LG is out here proving it with the launch of its latest smartphone, the LG Wing. While phone makers are busy iterating on exactly the same glass-metal design, some are making foldables and others like LG are rolling out a never-seen-before offering. LG Wing breaks the mold with a swiveling front display, which reveals a secondary display for easy multitasking on the move.

Key Specs
*6.8-inch Full-HD+ P-OLED display
*Secondary 3.9-inch G-OLED display
*32MP pop-up selfie camera
*64MP + 12MP + 13MP Rear Camera
* Snapdragon 765G chipset
*4,000mAh battery

The company hasn’t revealed the official price tag of the LG Wing just yet. The official blog post states that it will first go on sale in South Korea next month, followed by the US and Europe.

The phone will be available in two color variants – Aurora Gray and Illusion Sky.

LG Electronics CA

15/09/2020

Facebook Just Leaked Its Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset

Facebook has apparently leaked its upcoming standalone VR headset — the Oculus Quest 2 in a series of videos. The company is calling it “Oculus’ most advanced all-in-one VR system yet” and judging by the upgrades it’s getting, that sounds about right.

For starters, the headset is improving on the ergonomics and comfort with a soft touch fabric, smaller size, and less weight. All of which means it should, in theory, be more comfortable than the first generation Oculus Quest.

Moreover, there are improvements under the hood as well. Facebook is using Qualcomm’s dedicated VR chipset, the Qualcomm XR2 as compared to the Snapdragon 835 on the Oculus Quest. There’s also more RAM, 6GB of it, and more storage in the headset for your apps and games. What’s more, the Quest 2 will have 2K resolution per-eye, which is the highest Oculus has ever gone. The videos on Facebook’s website don’t reveal the refresh rate, but it’s rumoured to be 90Hz on the Quest 2.

The company has also revamped the controllers. They are now more ergonomic. Plus, the headset supports hand tracking. So, for some games, you will be able to completely ditch the controllers. Apart from all that, the Quest 2 will also come with support for Oculus Rift PC titles out of the box.

Oculus

15/09/2020

Facebook India Chief Summoned by Delhi Assembly Panel Over February Riots

A Delhi Assembly panel has summoned Facebook India vice president and managing director, Ajit Mohan, to face questions about the deadly riots that killed at least 50 people in the national capital earlier this year. In a statement issued over the weekend, the committee said that it had asked Mohan to appear before it on September 15 to answer allegations that Facebook allowed the situation to escalate by not properly implementing its own stated policies regarding hate speech and conspiracy theories.

According to a statement issued by the Delhi Assembly Committee on Peace and Harmony, the summon is based on “scathing depositions of key witnesses as well as incriminating material” submitted by victims and their lawyers. The committee, headed by AAP MLA, Raghav Chadha, opened its investigation following a Wall Street Journal report which claimed a senior Facebook executive in India personally stopped company employees from permanently banning a controversial BJP functionary from the platform for making incendiary remarks.

In its statement, the panel said that it had “received multiple complaints addressed to its Chairman Raghav Chadha against the officials concerned of Facebook for their alleged deliberate and intentional inaction to contain hateful content in India for vested reasons”.

“We hereby summon you (Ajit Mohan) to appear before the committee on September 15, 2020, at 12 noon at MLA Lounge-1, Delhi Vidhan Sabha, for the purpose of recording your deposition on oath and participating in the proceedings carried out by the committee”, the Delhi Assembly’s deputy secretary said in the notice sent on September 10. Facebook is yet to issue an official response to the summon.

14/09/2020

Realme Confirms Narzo 20 Series Launching in India on 21st September

Realme has been rumored to be working on an upgrade for its Narzo lineup for quite some time now. It took the wraps off the first devices in this new lineup, the Narzo 10 and 10A, in May earlier this year. Merely four months later, Realme has announced that it will launch the Narzo 20 series in India next week.

The Chinese giant has sent out media invites, confirming that the Narzo 20 series will be unveiled in India on 21st September. The invite carries the tagline ‘Feel the Power’ and shows off three smartphones, which are the Narzo 20A, Narzo 20, and Narzo 20 Pro.

The other phones will be the Narzo 20A and Narzo 20 but it’s currently unknown which is which as Realme offers no hints for the same. The square-camera module is common in its sub-Rs. 10,000 C-series though. It could turn out to be the Narzo 20A while the device with the triple-camera cutout will be the Narzo 20.

The Narzo 20 series will focus on the gaming performance and battery life, as per the media invites. Realme will tease some of the key features of the upcoming devices in the days leading up to the launch, so stay tuned for more information.

realme OPPO

14/09/2020

TikTok Picks Oracle Over Microsoft for Sale of US Operations

As ByteDance tumbles towards the deadline imposed by US President Donald Trump‘s ban on the company, it has decided to pick Oracle over Microsoft for selling off its US operations.

The report comes from Bloomberg, based on people familiar with the talks. Also, according to the report, a deal between ByteDance and Oracle will probably look more like corporate restructuring than an outright sale. According to people familiar with the matter, Oracle may take a stake in a newly formed US business and serve as TikTok’s technology partner. That would mean that TikTok’s US data will be stored in Oracle’s cloud servers.

On the other hand, Microsoft has since confirmed that it’s talks with ByteDance have ended. The Redmond giant and Walmart had come together to try and buy TikTok’s US operations. In a statement released today, the company said “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”

TikTok Oracle Microsoft Lumia