Tech by Words: December 2017

Saturday, 30 December 2017

Xiaomi Mi A1 Android 8.0 Oreo stable update starts rolling out

Xiaomi launched the Mi A1 Android One smartphone in India back in September running stock Android 7.1 (Nougat) in partnership with Google. After beta testing the update earlier this month, Xiaomi has started rolling out stable update for all the users today, just before the year ends, as it had promised at the launch. This will be one … Continue reading

OnePlus 5T gets Android 8.0 Oreo with first Open Beta update

OnePlus has finally released the first OxygenOS Open Beta for the OnePlus 5T that brings Android 8.0 (Oreo) for the phone, as it had promised at the OnePlus 5T launch last month. It brings all the Android Oreo features such as background limits that puts a big priority on improving user’s battery life, snoozing that lets users to … Continue reading

Asus Zenfone 4 Android 8.0 Oreo update starts rolling out

Asus has just announced that it has stared rolling out Android 8.0 Oreo update to Zenfone 4 (ZE554KL). The company promised to roll out the update to Zenfone 4 and 3 series and just like it said, the update is now hitting the Zenfone 4 model which comes with a build number 15.0405.1711.76. The new … Continue reading

Chrome OS 64 beta lets you run Android apps in parallel

With Chrome OS 64 beta, Google is about to bring in a new desktop-friendly feature that will let you run Android apps in parallel. The feature is found in Chrome OS 64 in the developer menu in Android preferences which on enabling lets Android apps behave like full-fledged desktop apps. Prior to this feature, Android app … Continue reading

Global Smartphone SoC market grows 19%, crosses $8 Billion in revenues in Q3 2017: Report

Global smartphone SoC market has crossed $8 billion in Q3 2017 as the chipset market grew 19% according to Counterpoint Research’s Component Tracker for Q3, 2017. Despite the neck tight problems throughout the year, Qualcomm topped the list and is responsible for 42% of the total revenue generated by chipsets followed by Apple. Though Apple claimed … Continue reading

Friday, 29 December 2017

List of Xiaomi smartphones launched in India in 2017

Xiaomi entered India in 2014 with Mi 3 and Redmi 1S which redefined the low budget category, Xiaomi has been in news since then for its value for money offerings. In 2015, company announced its manufacturing plants under Made in India campaign and launched first ever Made in India smartphone, Redmi 2 Prime. In 2016, … Continue reading

Honor View 10 Unboxing

Huawei’s Honor brand introduced the Honor View 10 smartphone at an event in London earlier this month and the phone will launch in India exclusively on Amazon.in next month. We already brought you the first impressions of the phone from the event, here we have the unboxing of the smartphone. Box Contents Honor View 10 smartphone in Navy Blue color 2-pin Huawei fast … Continue reading

ZTE Blade V9 with 5.7-inch FHD+ full-screen display, dual rear cameras, Android Oreo surfaces

ZTE Blade V9, the company’s upcoming smartphone in the ‘Blade’ series has been listed by the company’s Spain website accidentally. This reveals the design and complete specifications of the phone that include a 5.7-inch FHD+ 18:9 display, Snapdragon 450 SoC with up to 4GB RAM, Android Oreo and 16-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual rear cameras along … Continue reading

Huawei P Smart with 5.65-inch full-screen display, dual rear cameras to be global version of Enjoy 7S

Huawei’s Honor brand introduced Enjoy 7S, a mid-range smartphone in China last week. Now Evan Blass of @evleaks has reported that the phone will be introduced outside China as Huawei P Smart. http://pic.twitter.com/wAOvgLTprL— Evan Blass (@evleaks) December 29, 2017 As we already know, the phone has a 5.65-inch full HD+ full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio … Continue reading

OnePlus 5 Face Unlock coming soon with beta update, teased for OnePlus 3 and 3T

OnePlus recently promised to roll out the popular Face Unlock feature which was seen on the OnePlus 5T, for the OnePlus 5 as well. Today the company has announced that the most hyped feature will make its way first through Open Beta Build very soon. The company is also teasing the feature for OnePlus 3 and … Continue reading

Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 and Snapdragon 640 specifications surface

Qualcomm introduced Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 630 high-end Mobile Platforms back in May this year, which is being used in most top-end and mid-rage phones. Now specifications of their successors – Snapdragon 670 and Snapdragon 640 have surfaced in China. According to the rumors, Qualcomm will finally move to 10nm LPP processor technology for its high-end “Snapdragon … Continue reading

Samsung to introduce next-gen Exynos SoC on January 4, expected to power the Galaxy S9

Samsung has announced that it will announce TheNextExynos, its next-gen flagship Exynos SoC on January 4th, 2018. It says that it will go beyond a component, so it will likely be the flagship SoC. This will probably be the Exynos 9 Series 9810 SoC that was revealed in CES 2018 Innovation Awards announcement back in November. Discover … Continue reading

Nokia 2 to get Android 8.1 Oreo update directly, will include memory management features

HMD Global’s Chief product officer Juho Sarvikas‏ has confirmed that Nokia 2 will get Android 8.1 Oreo update directly skipping 8.0 update. He hasn’t given any time frame but said that most of the Android 8.1 features would be available, including the memory management improvements, which is needed since the phone has only 1GB of RAM. … Continue reading

Moto G5S Plus gets a permanent price cut in India, now available for Rs. 14999

Last week Motorola announced a temporary price cut for several smartphones online and offline for the festive season, including the Moto G5S Plus. Now it has announced a Rs. 1000 permanent price cut for the smartphone, after four months of launch. This comes weeks after Xiaomi Mi A1 received a permanent price cut in the country. To remind … Continue reading

Nokia 3310 4G phone gets certified in China

HMD Global introduced the 3310 feature phone with 2G support at the MWC 2017 earlier this year, and it unveiled the Nokia 3310 3G with a new design in September. Now the 4G version of the phone with the model number TA-1077 has been certified by TENAA in China. The Nokia 3310 4G is rumored to run YunOS, which is a customized version … Continue reading

Google stops selling Pixel C tablet, to focus on Pixelbook

After selling the tablet for more than two-years, Google has silently dropped the Pixel C tablet from its Google Store to focus on Pixelbook entirely. The Pixel C went on for sale in December 2015 for a price of $499 for the base model. Even though the pricing was a little high, the tablet itself … Continue reading

YouTube app for Amazon Fire TV deactivated, redirects users to Silk and Firefox browsers

While we know Google deactivating YouTube on Amazon Fire TV was coming, it came four days earlier than scheduled. YouTube announced that its services would no longer be available on Fire TV from January 1st, 2018, but according to a new report Fast Company, the services are blocked already days before the promised date. The … Continue reading

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra with 6-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 630 and Xperia L2 confirmed by regulators

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra and Xperia L2 are said to be launched in early 2018, and the phones now have passed through both NBTC and SIRIM regulatory bodies in Thailand and Malaysia revealing the names of the phones. Both the devices are to replace the current Xperia L1 and Xperia XA1 Ultra. Every phone must pass through the … Continue reading

Apple clarifies about slowing old iPhones, to offer battery replacements at a discounted price

Apple is facing a tough time since the company confirmed it indeed is slowing down old iPhones to preserve aged batteries have started flowing. The company is even facing legal lawsuits filed as well. However, Apple has finally responded on the issue explaining the reason for this action and is offering battery replacements at a … Continue reading

Thursday, 28 December 2017

Honor 7X Camera Samples

Huawei’s Honor brand is know for innovative products. It launched the Honor 7X at a competitive price tag, aimed at photography enthusiasts. Building on the success of the Honor 6X that was launched earlier this year, this has enhanced optics along with improved software features to make the photo experience the best. To remind you, the phone has dual camera … Continue reading

Samsung teases launch of new Galaxy smartphone exclusively on Amazon India

Samsung is all set to launch a new Galaxy smartphone in India soon. It will be launched exclusively on Amazon.in soon. The page has several hints about the phone such as “On for a New Way To Shop?”, “On for a Superior Performance?” and “On for a Stunning New Look?” without revealing the name of the smartphone. … Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ pass through the FCC; leak reveals 3.5mm headphone jack will stay

Samsung’s upcoming S9 and S9 Plus flagships have just been certified by the FCC on December 27th, and just as expected there is nothing about both the phone’s specifications in the FCC documents. The listing doesn’t even reveal the design outline of the flagships as some of the papers were submitted to the FCC way … Continue reading

Moto X4 Android 8.0 Oreo update starts rolling out in India

Motorola has finally started rolling out Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for the Moto X4 smartphone in India. The smartphone was launched in the country last month running Android 7.1 (Nougat) and the company confirmed the list of devices getting the Oreo back in September. Android Oreo brings a lot of new features and improvements including Notification channels, snooze notifications, … Continue reading

Reliance Jio to acquire RCOM’s wireless infrastructure assets

Reliance Jio today announced signing of definitive agreement for the acquisition of specified assets of Reliance Communications (RCOM) and its affiliates that includes Wireless Spectrum, Tower, Fiber and Media Convergence Node (MCN) assets as a part of RCOM’s debt reduction. This will contribute significantly to the large scale roll-out of wireless and Fiber to Home … Continue reading

Xiaomi Mi A1 Android Oreo Beta adds fast charging, latest update brings January 2018 Android security patch

Xiaomi rolled out Android 8.0 Oreo beta update for testers a couple of weeks back. There were reports that the update added support for fast charging. We were able to test the latest Beta ROM in our unit and can confirm that it indeed brings fast charging support for the phone. This works only when you … Continue reading

LG to introduce range of Speakers including ThinQ Speaker with built-in Google Assistant at CES 2018

LG today announced that it would be introducing a wide-range of speakers with smart capabilities at the CES 2018 event. The company is partnering with Meridian Audio for advanced high-performing audio technology, and the company will also announce its first premium smart AI audio product, the LG ThinQ Speaker at the event. The SK10Y soundbar is capable of delivering 550W … Continue reading

OnePlus 5T OxygenOS 4.7.6 update brings camera optimization, assistive lighting for face unlock and more

OnePlus 5T has received a new OxygenOS update to version 4.7.6, few weeks after the OxygenOS 4.7.4 update that brought several improvements. The latest update brings Camera Optimizations that includes better quality for selfie in low light, performance improvements for 3rd party camera apps and also adds assistive lighting for face unlock that can be enabled from the face unlock settings. Check out the … Continue reading

Nokia 1 Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone said to arrive in March 2018

HMD Global launched the entry-level Nokia 2 smartphone recently with a 4000mAh battery, but it chose to go with the Snapdragon 212 SoC and 1GB of RAM that doesn’t offer the best performance. Now Eldar Murtazin of Mobile-Review who was once popular for Nokia leaks says that Nokia is planning to introduce Nokia 1, another entry-level Android smartphone … Continue reading

Honor View 10 registration begins on Amazon in India ahead of January launch

Huawei’s Honor brand introduced the Honor View 10 smartphone at an event in London earlier this month and also said that it will roll out in several countries including India from January. Today it has started registrations for the smartphone on Amazon.in ahead of the launch next month. Currently there is just ‘Notify me’ option on the site, … Continue reading

Airtel TV app gets new UI, Time shift feature for Live TV; free for all customers till June 2018

To take on Reliance Jio’s Jio TV app, Airtel has updated its Airtel TV app that offers Live TV channels as well as Regional & International content from Eros Now, SonyLIV and HOOQ. It has also announced that the entire content catalogue of Airtel TV will be available for its Postpaid and Prepaid users on … Continue reading

Apple CEO Tim Cook gets 74% bonus as the company posts higher profits in 2017

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has received a 74 percent increase in his annual bonus for the year 2017 as the company posted high-profits and net income this year after a slight dip last year. With 74% bonus, Tim Cook’s final earnings reached $102 million, while other top executives earned about $24 million each this year. Tim … Continue reading

Snapchat said to be working on “Stories Everywhere” to bring Stories to the web

With an aim to extend its reach and grow user base, Snapchat is said to be working on “Stories Everywhere” feature to bring Stories to the web bringing the content outside of the app for the first time according to a report from Cheddar. The company is said to have hired Rahul Chopra, former Senior Vice President … Continue reading

Instagram now shows recommended posts in your feed

After being spotted a while ago, Recommended posts in the news feed are finally making its way to everyone. Instagram will now show recommend posts in the news feed based on those based on those that have been liked by other accounts you follow. The app clearly labeled the “Recommended for you” section which contains three to five … Continue reading

Netflix said to team with WhatsApp for an enterprise solution

WhatsApp is working with streaming service Netflix on an enterprise level partnership, and the chat giant has reportedly confirmed to Killer Features that Netflix is indeed a testing partner for Enterprise Solutions. Though both the companies didn’t reveal the end purpose of the partnership, according to few Twitterites, Netflix is said to use the chat platform; WhatsApp to … Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 reportedly dying once battery drains completely

Not on the levels of Note7 but the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 seems to have started facing problems of its own as reports started coming in claiming that the device is not turning on or charging once the battery hits zero. Quite a few Note 8 users have taken this to the Samsung community and … Continue reading

Facebook starts testing Aadhaar prompts for new users

Post the reports over the past few days about Facebook prompting Aadhaar authentication for new users over Reddit; the social media giant has now confirmed to have started testing the feature on its platform. However, the company is asking details from limited users as a part of a small test; not everyone will be prompted. … Continue reading

Wednesday, 27 December 2017

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 2017 Review

Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2017) in India back in October this year. This comes after the Galaxy Tab A 2016 that was introduced last year but the company did not decide to launch that in India, after the Samsung Tab A (SM-T355Y) that we had reviewed back in 2015. This comes with support for voice calling capabilities similar to earlier … Continue reading

Honor 7X vs Xiaomi Mi A1 – Camera Comparison

Huawei’s Honor brand was one of the first to introduce dual cameras in the mid-range segment with the Honor 6X that was launched earlier this year. Now with the Honor 7X that that was launched recently, the company has improved dual camera features by adding several new enhancements aimed at photography enthusiasts who love to utilize the advanced features in the camera and to … Continue reading

Lenovo Mirage Solo standalone Daydream VR headset passes through the FCC

Lenovo’s standalone Daydream VR; Mirage has been certified by the FCC revealing some basic details like support for Daydream, Bluetooth 5.0 and a 4,000mAh battery. Above everything, the new listing indicates we’re close to experience what Daydream VR is like without the need for a smartphone. The upcoming Lenovo VR headset comes with a model number … Continue reading

Samsung Level In ANC earphones with active noise cancellation launched in India for Rs. 3799

Samsung today launched Level In ANC (EO-IG930) in-ear wired earphones in India. It has two-way speakers for an immersive music experience and offers powerful Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) to drastically minimise surrounding ambient noise by -20dB. It comes with Talk-in Mode that allows you to stay fully immersed in high-quality music while allowing you to be cautious about the … Continue reading

Apple said to be considering MediaTek modems for next-gen iPhones

Back in October, there was a WSJ report that said Apple is planning on ditching Qualcomm for MediaTek modems for next-gen iPhones that will launch in 2018. Today yet another report, this time from Digitimes claims that Apple is looking at MediaTek as a potential partner after transferring half of its order to Intel from … Continue reading

Paytm first payments app in India to cross 100 million downloads on Google Play Store

Paytm has announced that its app has crossed 100 million downloads on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017. This makes it India’s first first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark. It crossed 50 million milestone back in November 2016, so it took over a year to reach another … Continue reading

Garmin vivofit 4 activity tracker with always-on color display, over one-year battery life announced

Garmin has announced the vivofit 4 fitness tracker, successor of last year’s vivofit 3, ahead of CES 2018. It has an always-on color display for the first time in the vivofit series, comes with one-year battery life and the Move IQ captures different activities, such as walking, running, biking, swimming and using an elliptical, to view on … Continue reading

LG and HERE partner for next-generation telematics solution in self-driving cars

LG Electronics today announced a partnership with HERE Technologies for next-generation telematics solution for autonomous vehicles. This combines LG’s advanced telematics technology with high-precision map data and location services powered by the HERE Open Location Platform. Both the companies are aiming at supporting automakers globally with a robust and secure data communications hub for highly automated … Continue reading

Energous WattUp power-at-a-distance wireless charging technology certified by the FCC

Energous; the developer of WattUp today announced that it received FCC certification for over the air and power-at-a-distance wireless charging technology. It is the first generation WattUp Mid Field transmitter which sends focused RF based power to compatible devices at a distance of three feet. The technology is capable of doing both contact-based and non-contact-based wireless charging, as well as … Continue reading

Google said to open stores in India to boost sales of Pixel phones

Google is said to be planning on opening brick-and-mortar stores in India to scale up sales of Pixel phones where the company is lagging behind in the competition according to a report from the Economic Times. Furthermore, the report also reveals that the company is aiming at launching the stores in later part of 2018 along … Continue reading

Huawei’s 2018 roadmap surfaces – P20 line-up, Mate series, 360-degree camera and more

Huawei’s alleged 2018 roadmap photo has been leaked revealing the company’s 2018 product line-up that includes smartphones, wearable, router, and a 360-degree camera. The roadmap doesn’t include the much-hyped P11 series, rather it will be named as P20 according to Gadgety report. The report comes after a brief session with Rami Hazan, Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Division … Continue reading

Tuesday, 26 December 2017

7 Reasons to buy the Honor 7X

Huawei’s online brand Honor has been churning out some truly good smartphones quite lately with stunning design advanced camera functions. Having said that, Honor is one of the few brands that keep up with the world trends and quick to serve the customer accordingly. Recently, the company has launched the successor of Honor 6X, which … Continue reading

OPPO opens its first flagship store in Shanghai

OPPO has opened its first ever flagship OPPO Store in Shanghai with an aim to create communication between the brand and its customers. In the newly opened store, customers are free to explore the wide-range of OPPO products. The company also introduced R11s New-Year edition that will be available at the flagship store. Customers are … Continue reading

Vodafone India to launch VoLTE services in January 2018

Vodafone has finally announced that it will roll out VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) services in India from January 2018 in Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka and Kolkata in phase one and the extended roll out in other circles will happen later. Reliance Jio officially launched pan-India 4G LTE services with VoLTE support back in September last year and Airtel … Continue reading

OnePlus to reward first 37 OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition buyers with personalized Star name in the galaxy

OnePlus today has announced a reward program for OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition buyers. As a part of this offer, first 37 customers of the phone will be rewarded with one star named after them in the galaxy. In association with ‘Star Register’ OnePlus is offering this unique experience to its 5T star wars edition owners. … Continue reading

Xiaomi now lets you track device repair status online in real time in India

Xiaomi has announced Service Order Status feature on Mi India website. This feature lets you track your device’s repair status just by entering required details like phone number/service number/IMEI number and verify with OTP on the Mi official website. The company says that the tracking and status updates can be done anytime and are also real time. … Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy J2 (2018) with 5-inch Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 425 listed online with price

Samsung Galaxy J2 (2018) (SM-J250F) has been listed by a retailer in Russia ahead of official announcement. This reveals a 5-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 425 SoC with 1.5GB RAM, Android Nougat, 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera that also comes wit a flas. The phone has a new … Continue reading

Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier MAX for large spaces with up to 12 months filter life announced

Xiaomi introduced the Mi Air Purifier 2 with a smaller design compared to the Mi Air Purifier back in 2015 and it was launched in India last year. Now it has introduced Mi Air Purifier MAX, a bigger Air Purifier for large area offering longer filter life of 6 to 12 months depending on your and it also comes with … Continue reading

Honor 7X Camera Features

The Chinese handset maker Honor is outstanding when it comes to manufacturing smartphones that look and acts like a flagship device. The company has applied a similar strategy once again and launched a device with invigorating design keeping up with the latest trends. The Honor 7X that that was launched recently is aimed at photography enthusiasts … Continue reading

Ulefone Power 3 with 6-inch FHD+ full-screen display, 6GB RAM, 6080mAh battery announced

Ulefone recently announced Ulefone Power 3, the successor of Ulefone Power 2 that was introduced earlier this year, now it has stared pre-sale of the phone. It has a 6-inch FHD+ 18:9 display with 90.8% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by MediaTek Helio P23 SoC with 6GB of RAM and runs Android 7.1 (Nougat), which will be upgraded to Android 8.1 (Oreo) … Continue reading

WhatsApp will stop working on BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone 8.0 after December 31

WhatsApp will stop supporting BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone 8.0 from December 31st, 2017 and support for Android versions 2.3.7 and older will end on February 1, 2020, as it had announced earlier. The company has already stopped support for Android versions older than 2.3.3 and Windows Phone 7 back in 2016. The company already announced its … Continue reading

LG V30 Android 8.0 Oreo update starts rolling out

LG introduced the V30 smartphone at the IFA in August running Android 7.1.2 (Nougat). It started rolling out Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for the V30 users in South Korea through LG OS Preview program for all the carriers. last month. Now it is rolling out stable Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for the V30 users in South Korea starting today, as it … Continue reading

Monday, 25 December 2017

Qualcomm gets permission to test self-driving cars in California

Popular chipset maker Qualcomm has received permission to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in California in its efforts to enter the self-driving car market. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles has issued the permit authorizing testing for one vehicle and three drivers. Back in September, Qualcomm announced the 9150 C-V2X chipset which lets cars communicate with other cars as well as … Continue reading

Carriers might hide signal strength in future versions of Android

The future version of Android might give carriers an option to disable the “Signal strength” metric from appearing in Settings according to the findings of XDA developers in a recent commit to the Android Open Source Project. Though the intention and motivation for this move is a mystery for now. The commit discovered shows that the signal strength … Continue reading

Google hires key Apple chip designer John Bruno, likely to build custom chipset

As a part of its aim to create custom processors for its upcoming flagships; Google is said to have hired John Bruno, a designer who founded and ran Apple’s silicon competitive analysis group and the chips that were used in iPhones and iPads. However, what he will be doing at Google is unknown at the moment. … Continue reading

Sony H8266 with 5.48-inch HDR display, Snapdragon 845, Android Oreo surfaces

Recently Sony H8216 model surfaced on the internet revealing most of the specifications of the upcoming 2018 Xperia Z-series line-up. Today we see yet another leak of a device in the same series with model number H8266. The device is said to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with 4GB RAM. Though this latest … Continue reading

OPPO A83 with 5.7-inch full-screen display, 4GB RAM, face unlock announced

OPPO has announced A83, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in the ‘A series’ in China, after it was certified recently. It has a 5.7 HD+ full-screen 2.5D curved glass display, has 4GB RAM, comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with support for A.I beauty technology as well as … Continue reading

Reliance Jio introduces surprise cashback offer – Up to Rs. 3300 cashback on recharge of Rs. 399 or more

Reliance Jio introduced triple-cashback offer last month, after extending the offer twice, the offer is finally ending today. Now it has launched new surprise cashback offer for the new year that offers 100% cashback that offers Rs. 400 worth vouchers on recharge of Rs. 399 or more as well as cashback up to Rs. 300 from … Continue reading

Sunday, 24 December 2017

OnePlus 5 OxygenOS 5.0 Android 8.0 Oreo update starts rolling out, Face Unlock coming soon

Just after a month of rolling out Android 8.0 (Oreo) open beta update for the OnePlus 5, OnePlus today started rolling out stable Android Oreo update for the users as a Christmas Gift, ahead of the promised early 2018 time-frame. OnePlus Co-Founder Carl Pei has finally confirmed that the OnePlus 5 will get OnePlus 5T’s Face … Continue reading

Saturday, 23 December 2017

Xiaomi Mi Home No. 1 Mi Fan Sale from Dec 23 to Jan 1: Discounts on smartphones and accessories

After its No. 1 Mi Fan Sale online, Xiaomi has announced sale at their Mi Home stores. This lets customers get the smartphones and accessories at a discounted rates at Mi Home Stores across 15 Mi Homes in 6 cities between December 23rd 2017 to January 1st 2018. Discounts on Xiaomi products during No.1 Mi Fan Sale … Continue reading

Xiaomi Mi Band HRX Edition Review

A year after launching the Mi Band 2 in the country, Xiaomi launched the Mi Band HRX Edition in India in partnership with HRX by Hrithik Roshan back in September. This has the same OLED display and a similar design, but doesn’t have a heart rate sensor. I have been using it for over a couple of months now. Let … Continue reading

Weekly Roundup: Samsung Galaxy A8 2018 and A8+ 2018, Honor 9 Lite, Xiaomi Mi A1 Special Edition Red and more

Samsung this week introduced Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) smartphones, 10.or launched its budget 10.or D smartphone, Xiaomi launched its Mi A1 Special Edition Red version, Huawei introduced Enjoy 7S and the Honor brand introduced the Honor 9 Lite, and lots more that happened this week in our weekly roundup. Samsung this week announced the Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy … Continue reading

Chrome Dev and Canary for Android get a new video player with YouTube-style media controls

Video player on Chrome did not have many features, except for play/pause button, a timeline of the video and other controls that the website has included. However, a brand new video player has appeared in in Chrome Dev and Canary that brings YouTube-like double-tap to fast-forward/rewind controls. With the new design, you can tap on the middle … Continue reading

HMD Global estimated to have shipped around 16 million Nokia phones in Q3 2017

HMD Global since it started selling Nokia branded phones just over a year ago has said to have shipped around 16 million units in the Q3 2017. According to the market share report for Q3 2017 shared by analyst firms, they have witnessed strong demand for Android-powered Nokia phones and feature phones as well. As per … Continue reading

Apple faces class action lawsuits over intentionally slowing down old iPhones

Apple intentionally slowing down iPhones with aged batteries to preserve its life surely has raised a controversy over the past few days, and now it landed the company in class action lawsuit in Los Angeles. The lawsuit accuses the company saying that it a fraud designed to lure users in upgrading to the latest model. Apart from … Continue reading

Apple sanctioned in Qualcomm court case for withholding evidence documents

In a surprising note, Apple has been sanctioned in Qualcomm court case for withholding relevant documents. The lawsuit against Qualcomm by FTC alleges that Apple was forced to use Qualcomm modem chips exclusively. Nathanael Cousins; U.S. Magistrate Judge in San Jose, California has ordered Apple to pay $25,000 for each day that it fails to produce … Continue reading

Friday, 22 December 2017

Reliance Jio Happy New Year 2018 plans launched starting at Rs. 199

Reliance Jio today launched Happy New Year 2018 plans, just in time for the new year. The Rs. 199 and Rs. 299 monthly plans offer better data benefits for monthly users, compared to the existing Rs. 149 plan that offers just 4.2GB data for the month, but these have the same 28-days validity. Reliance Jio Happy New Year 2018 plans … Continue reading

Snowden-backed Haven app uses your smartphone’s sensors for monitoring

Freedom of the Press Foundation where Edward Snowden is one of the directors and Guardian Project have jointly developed an open-source app called Haven for Android that uses a sensors on the phone to provide monitoring and protection of physical spaces. The developers say that the app has especially been developed for investigative journalists, human rights defenders, and … Continue reading

Qualcomm rejects Broadcomm’s board of director nominees

Earlier this month, after being rejected for a proposal to acquire Qualcomm, Broadcom nominated a slate of 11 members for the director’s role at Qualcomm’s 2018 Annual Meeting to replace the Qualcomm’s existing board of directors. However, Qualcomm today announced that it has rejected director nominees assembled by Broadcom. Qualcomm says that following the recommendation of the Board’s Governance … Continue reading

OPPO A85 with 5.7-inch full-screen display, 4GB RAM gets certified

After OPPO A83 that got certified by TENAA in China recently, OPPO A85 has been certified by the TENAA now. This reveals similar specifications including a 5.7-inch HD+ 18:9 full-screen display 2.5GHz Octa-Core SoC, 4GB of RAM, 13-megapixel rear camera and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It doesn’t seem to have a metal back since there are … Continue reading

Airtel launches Celkon Star 4G+ smartphone at an effective price of Rs. 1249

Airtel has once again partnered with Celkon to launch Celkon Star 4G+, a budget VoLTE phone at an effective price of Rs. 1249, after launching the Celkon Smart 4G back in October. It is part of Airtel’s Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone initiative under which the operator will partner with multiple mobile manufacturers in an aim to create an ‘open ecosystem’ of … Continue reading

Gionee S10 Lite with 4GB RAM, 16MP front camera launched in India for Rs. 15999

Gionee today launched S10 Lite, the company’s latest smartphone in the ‘S Series’ in India. It was introduced in China back in May this year as S10C and packs a 5.2-inch display, is powered by Snapdragon 427 Mobile Platform with 4GB of RAM and runs Android 7.1 (Nougat) with Amigo OS 4.0. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera … Continue reading

Apple working on a larger-capacity battery technology for 2019 iPhones: KGI

Apple is expected to bring new 3D sensing and augmented reality functions to 2019 iPhones. To juice up the upgraded feature set, a larger capacity battery is a primary requirement, and for this reason, it is heard that the company is working on a larger capacity battery technology for 2019 iPhones predicts Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. … Continue reading

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL get a limited period price cut in India

Google introduced the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones in India at a starting price of Rs. 61,000 and Rs. 73,000, respectively. During its sale earlier this month Flipkart offered the Pixel 2 for as low as Rs. 39,999 by offering Rs.11,001 flat discount and Rs. 10,000 on all debit and credit cards. Now Google has announced a temporary price cut for both the Pixel … Continue reading

Apple said to be developing EKG Heart Monitor for next-gen Apple Watch

Apple is said to be working on EKG Heart Monitor for Its next-gen Apple Watch as a part of including resourceful features in the smartwatches according to a report from Bloomberg. A version that is being tested requires users to squeeze the frame of the Apple Watch with two fingers of the other hand which then passes … Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version goes on sale in India for Rs. 12990

Samsung launched the Galaxy J7 Nxt (SM-J701F) smartphone in the J7 series in India back in July with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Now the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version is available from offline stores, according to Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom. Apart from the increase in storage it also comes with AR Stickers and also includes Samsung … Continue reading

Facebook and Universal Music Group sign multi-year agreement to license recorded music

Universal Music Group (UMG) has signed a multi-year agreement with Facebook to license its record music for users on the platform to use it in their videos. This agreement also covers Instagram and Oculus. This agreement will allow users to use Universal Music Group recorded music and soundtracks in their videos without having to worry about copyright … Continue reading

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 powered Chromebook devices may launch soon

Earlier this month, Qualcomm has taken wraps off the next flagship chipset; the Snapdragon 845 which is an Octa-Core processor with Kryo 385 CPUs, Adreno 630 GPU. Xiaomi and Samsung have already announced that their upcoming flagship smartphones will have the 845 chipset and now according to latest reports, Snapdragon 845 powered Chromebook devices might be launched soon. … Continue reading

Mozilla Firefox and Amazon Silk browsers now available on Amazon Fire TV

Amazon has announced the roll out of Firefox browser and its own silk browser for Fire TV line-up including the regular Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick. After being in the testing phase in a closed group for a month now, Silk browser is available for everyone. The Mozilla Firefox app on Amazon Fire TV and Fire … Continue reading

Eric Schmidt to step down as Alphabet’s executive chairman, will continue as technical advisor

Alphabet Inc. today announced that Eric Schmidt, the current executive chairman as of the next regular board meeting in January 2018 will be stepping down and will continue to serve the board of directors as technical advisor. Eric Schmidt will end his 17 long years of his service which helped Google transforming into a global technology powerhouse. … Continue reading

Instagram now lets you share live videos through direct messages

Instagram today rolled out an update that will let you share live videos with friends through direct messages. You can also send live videos that you’re watching as well. This update comes after the follow hashtags feature which was made available last week. To share live video with friends, just tap the direct icon at the … Continue reading

Thursday, 21 December 2017

Honor 9 Lite with 5.65-inch FHD+ full-screen display, dual front and rear cameras, Android 8.0 announced

Huawei’s Honor brand has introduced Honor 9 Lite, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone with a full-screen display in China, as it had promised. It has a 5.65-inch full HD+ full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio and comes with a 13-megapixel front and rear cameras along with a secondary 2-megapixel rear camera to capture depth information. It is powered by … Continue reading

Moto G5s Plus, Moto Z2 Play and others get a temporary price cut in India

Motorola has announced a temporary price cut on range of its smartphones just in time for festive season on Amazon.in as a part of Moto Fest sale as well as offline stores. This includes its popular model Moto Z2 Play, Moto G5S Plus as well as budget phones like Moto C. The Moto Z2 Play is still selling at … Continue reading

Samsung Pay update adds support for Bill Payments in India

Samsung today announced that its flagship product; Samsung Pay in India is now capable of doing bill payments within the app. Using the latest feature, you can payMobile postpaid, Electricity, DTH, Broadband, Landline, Gas, Water bills with UPI on Samsung Pay. The bill payment feature on Samsung Pay is facilitated by NPCI’s Bharat Bill Payments system … Continue reading

Ericsson and Qualcomm with 9 other telecom operators achieve multi-band 5G NR interoperability

Ericsson together with Qualcomm and in collaboration with 9 leading telecom operators AT&T, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, SK Telecom, Sprint, Telstra, T-Mobile US, Verizon, and Vodafone today conducted a multivendor 5G interoperability test compliant with the global 3GPP standard for 5G New Radio (NR) Non-standalone (NSA), which also got its specs approved today. This was held in both … Continue reading

Karbonn K9 Music 4G with dual speakers launched for Rs. 4990

Karbonn Mobiles has launched K9 Music 4G, the company’s latest budget msuc smartphone with dual speakers and 3 months of unlimited music download on Saavn App. It has a 5-inch FWVGA display, is powered by a quad-core processor, runs on Android 7.0 Nougat, has an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Karbonn … Continue reading

MAPS.ME introduces Star Wars saga’s filming locations route on maps

Maps.Me navigation service today has announced Star Wars saga’s filming location routes will be available download and can be accessed from Maps.Me app, especially for the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie. This indeed is an exciting opportunity for Star Wars fans to visit and witness the real locations where the epic franchise is being … Continue reading

Cryptocurrency mining Android malware ‘Loapi’ can damage phones

Kaspersky Labs claims to have discovered new Android trojan malware Loapi is said to be using Android-powered phones to mine Monero tokens (a kind of cryptocurrency); an activity that is not in control of phone owners. This activity is said to be not just overheating phones, but also causing physical damage to the phone. The malware apart … Continue reading

10.or D with 5.2-inch HD display, fingerprint sensor, 3500mAh battery launched starting at Rs. 4999

10.or is back with another smartphone after the 10.or E and 10.or G . Today it has launched 10.or D, the company’s most affordable smartphone as a part of “Crafted for Amazon” programme.. It has a 5.2-inch HD screen, is powered by Snapdragon 425 Mobile Platform, runs on Android 7.1.2 (Nougat), which is upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo). It has a … Continue reading

LG introduces 4K and UltraWide 5K monitors with Nano IPS tech ahead of CES 2018

LG today introduced range of monitors with Nano IPS technology, support for HDR600 with even higher dynamic range of peak brightness and full Thunderbolt 3 compatibility, ahead of CES 2018 next month. LG’s advanced Nano IPS technology involves the application of nanometer-sized particles to the screen’s LED to absorb excess light wavelengths.”This greatly enhances the intensity and … Continue reading

Pokemon Go for iOS uses Apple’s ARKit tools to bring advanced AR+ features

Niantic, the makers of Pokémon GO today announced an update for iOS devices that brings advanced AR+ support which leverages on Apple’s ARKit framework. This update will only be available for iPhones running on iOS 11 on the iPhone 6s and later devices. Apple’s ARKit takes apps beyond the screen, freeing them to interact with the real … Continue reading

Amazon said to launch YouTube rival ‘Amazontube’ soon

Google recently announced that it is pulling out its YouTube app from Touchscreen Echo device and from Fire TV on January 1st. In the midst of a sudden move from Google, Amazon is in no mood of backing out as the company is said to be launching YouTube rival dubbed ‘Amazontube’ very soon. Amazon has filed … Continue reading

Twitter rolls out third-party app support for two-factor authentication as an alternative to SMS

Twitter currently uses SMS sent through the carrier for two-factor verification, today the company has announced third-party app support for two-factor authentication as well. The company says that SMS or text message based codes are inferior in terms of security and even when you’re traveling places where the carrier connectivity is poor which makes it hard for the … Continue reading

Apple confirms throttling performance of old iPhones with aging batteries

Recently there were reports that said Apple might be intentionally slowing down old iPhones as batteries age basing on proofs gathered from Reddit and Geekbench test results, and today Apple has openly confirmed to throttling performance of iPhones with aged batteries. Apple claims that it is not slowing down iPhones just to urge people to upgrade … Continue reading

Apple said to unify iPhone, iPad and Mac Apps to create one user experience

Apple already offers a novel way for iPhone and iPads to communicate with computers via easy-to-use applications, however, the same didn’t go very well on Apple’s desktops and laptops. The Mac Store apps have a limited section and rarely updated apps. With an aim to change everything, Apple is now focusing on unifying iPhone, iPad & Mac … Continue reading

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

Garmin Vivosport activity tracker with heart rate sensor and GPS launched in India for Rs. 15990

Garmin today launched Vivosport, its latest smart activity tracker with built-in Elevate wrist-based heart rate sensor that monitors heart rate 24×7. It was introduced back in August and comes with Chroma color touchscreen display with built-in sports apps to track both indoor and outdoor workouts such as strength training, cycling, cardio and more. It is safe for swimming … Continue reading

Vivo V7 Energetic Blue color variant launched in India

Vivo launched the V7 , a mid-range selfie-focused smartphone in India last month in Champagne Gold and Matte Black colors. Today it has launched new Energetic Blue color variant in the country, similar to the V7+ that got the Blue version last month. Specifications are similar to the original V7, including a 5.7-inch (1440 x 720 pixels) FullView display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 16-megapixel … Continue reading

Apple might be intentionally slowing down old iPhones as batteries age

Old phones certainly slow down over the period of time when they run their course, though Apple phones, thanks to the asking price remained an exception. However, it looks like it is slowly changing as users on Reddit have found evidence that proves Apple appears to be intentionally slowing down old iPhones that have low capacity … Continue reading

Gionee A1 Plus and A1 Lite get a price cut in India

Gionee launched the A1 Plus smartphone in India back in July this year for Rs. 26,999 and the A1 Lite smartphone was launched in August in the country at a price tag of Rs. 14,999. Today the company has announced a price cut for both the smartphones. The Gionee A1 Plus has received a Rs. 3000 price cut and the A1 Lite has … Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy S9+ with Snapdragon 845, 6GB RAM surfaces in benchmark, Dual rear cameras revealed in case render

Samsung is expected to introduce its flagship Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones at the MWC 2018 in February. Now the Galaxy S9+ with the model number SM-G965U has surfaced on Geekbench listing that confirms Snapdragon 845 SoC, 6GB RAM and Android 8.0 (Oreo) as revealed earlier. Renders from case maker Olixar has revealed the design of both … Continue reading

Xiaomi Mi 6 Android Oreo update confirmed, Beta testing for MIUI Global ROM to start soon

Android Oreo adoption rate is slowly increasing with year end, many manufacturers have already revealed list of phones eligible for android update. Xiaomi is amongst the OEMs which have not yet published any such list, recently company rolled out Oreo Beta update for Mi A1 which is maiden Android One device from company till date … Continue reading

Xiaomi introduces Google Tez payment option on Mi online store and Mi Store app in India

Google launched Tez mobile payments app based on UPI (Unified Payments Interface) in India back in September this year. Today Xiaomi has announced that it now supports the payment option powered by Tez on Mi.com and the Mi Store app for a cashless transaction. This lets users can pay directly from their bank accounts online for any purchase … Continue reading

India ranks top in improving broadband download speeds in 2017: Ookla

According to Ookla Speedtest Global Index, India ranks top in improving broadband download speeds in 2017 and has captured 2nd place in terms of showing the most improvement in mobile data speeds among the world’s most populous countries. India’s broadband speeds have seen a major jump with the average speed improving by 76.9%, pushing China and the United States to second … Continue reading

Samsung 49-inch Curved QLED HDR gaming monitor launched in India for Rs. 150000

Samsung just launched the world’s biggest curved monitor in India. The 49-inch ultra-wide curved gaming monitor (LC49HG90) has a 32:9 aspect ratio and 3,840×1,080 double full HD (DFHD) resolution. It delivers 1,800R curvature, an ultra-wide 178-degree viewing angle and accelerated refresh rate (144Hz) and 1ms motion picture response time (MPRT) with advanced, four-channel scanning technology to deter motion blur and produce … Continue reading

Google Chrome to block annoying ads from February 15

Coalition for Better Ads, a group that focuses on improving online ads yesterday has announced Better Ads Experience Program; a voluntary initiative for improving online ads and certify web publishers that agree not to use the most disruptive ads identified in the Standards. After joining the Coalition for Better Ads back in June this year, Google said that it … Continue reading

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 already announced with a different name?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 with Snapdragon 625 was launched in India back in January this year and company has already sold more than 5 million units of the smartphone in less than a year, and now we all are waiting for successor of Xiaomi’s most popular phone in India till date. It seems that Xiaomi has already … Continue reading

1MORE iBFree Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones

Every time we review a 1More product, we end up being suitably surprised by the price to performance ratio. As more and more phones start ditching the headphone jack, a good pair of wireless headphones has become a necessary part of every music enthusiast’s arsenal. The 1More iBFree is one such entry-level Bluetooth headset that claims … Continue reading

Samsung NW700 Sound+ wall-mountable Soundbar to be unveiled at CES 2018

Samsung today announced that it would unveil NW700 Soundbar Sound+ wall-mountable Soundbar at CES 2018. It is the successor to the MS650 Sound+ model and packs features such as distortion-canceling, wide-range tweeters, and multi-speaker control. The soundbar packs slim and easy to carry sleek design with 53.5mm-width and seamlessly works with a wall mount TV. It … Continue reading

Google Play Store to require apps to target recent Android API level, 64-bit support must from August 2019

Google today announced three major changes to the Play Store that will require new apps and app updates targeting a recent Android API level, native apps 64-bit support and security metadata to APKs for verification purposes. Google said that by 2018 second half, Play Store’s existing and new apps will target a recent Android API level just to … Continue reading

Advertisements