Twitter revokes API access of three notification spammer apps that sell fake followers

Twitter has announced that it is stepping up its fight against notification spammer as the functionality of three of these services — ManageFlitter, Statusbrew, Crowdfire stopped functioning. Twitter has confirmed its actions and said that these three apps for having repeatedly violated the API rules.  A Twitter spokesperson in a statement said: "As a part of our commitment to building a healthy service, we remain focused on rapidly curbing spam and abuse originating from the use of Twitter’s APIs.” These apps will cease to function since they’ll no longer be able to programmatically interact with Twitter to follow or unfollow people or take other actions. Twitter’s policies specify that “Aggressive following (Accounts who follow or unfollow Twitter accounts in bulk, aggressive, or indiscriminate manner) is a violation of the Twitter Rules.” ManageFlitter‘s site promotes how “Following relevant people on Twitter is a great way to gain new followers. Find people who are interested in similar topics, follow them and often they will follow you back.” While another feature lets them check back a few days later and rapidly unfollow everyone who didn’t follow them back. Many a time when you follow users, they do not follow back . . . thereby, you might want to disconnect with such ...

Vivo V15 Pro with 32MP pop-up selfie camera and V15 promo images revealed ahead of India launch on February 20

Earlier this week Vivo teased the launch of a mid-range smartphone with a pop-up selfie camera in India on February 20th. Now the promo images of the V15 Pro with 32-megapixel pop-up selfie camera and triple rear cameras with dual-LED flash have surfaced. As expected, the phone will come with an in-display fingerprint sensor and a FullView display with minimal bezels Earlier rumors said that it will be priced under Rs. 30,000, similar to the V11 Pro. It is rumored to launch as X25 in China around the same time or in early March. Vivo will also launch the V15 smartphone in a later date. We should know the complete specifications soon, as the phone is said to go on pre-bookings starting February 15th. Source 1, 2

Apple restores Google’s internal iOS apps after certificate misuse

Apple has shut down Google's ability to distribute its internal iOS apps, following a similar shutdown that was issued to Facebook earlier this week.  According to reports, the early versions of Google Maps, Hangouts, Gmail, and other pre-release beta apps stopped working alongside employee-only apps like a Gbus app for transportation and Google’s internal cafe app. The company then later has restored Google’s Enterprise Certificate hours later so its internal apps will now function. Apple has worked closely with Google to fix the situation. This move comes just a day after Google disabled its Screenwise meter app; a private app was designed to monitor how people use their iPhones, similar to Facebook’s research app. Google’s app also relied on Apple’s enterprise program, which enables the distribution of internal apps within a company. In an earlier statement over Facebook’s certificate removal, Apple did warn that “any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked.” The company is sticking to its rules and applying them equally to Facebook, Google and other companies that break the policies. Facebook’s internal iOS apps have also resumed functioning, as the social network confirmed that Apple had restored its enterprise certificate. While all sounds ...

Xiaomi Redmi Go Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone with 5-inch HD display announced officially, price revealed

After a leak last week, Xiaomi has officially announced the Redmi Go, the company's first Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone in Phillipines officially. It has a 5-inch HD screen, Snapdragon 425 SoC with 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front camera, 4G LTE with dedicated SIM slots and a 3000mAh battery. Xiaomi Redmi Go specifications 5-inch (1280 x 720pixels) HD 16:9 display with 380 nits brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 72% NTSC Color Gamut 1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 Mobile Platform with Adreno 308 GPU 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD Android 8.1 (Oreo Go Edition) Dual SIM 8MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/2.0 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size 5MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size Dimensions:140.4x 70.1 x 8.35mm; Weight: 137g 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS 3000mAh battery The Xiaomi Redmi Go comes in Black and Blue colors, is priced at 3,990 Philippine Piso ($ 76 / ₹ 5,422 approx.) and is available for order from Lazada.

OPPO K1 with Snapdragon 660, in-display fingerprint sensor launching in India on February 6

After teasers, Flipkart has confirmed the launch of OPPO K1 , a mid-range smartphone with in-display fingerprint scanner in India on February 6th. It was announced in China back in October last year, packs a 6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED Waterdrop notch display, is powered by Octa-Core Snapdragon 660 AIE with up to 6GB RAM, ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo), 16MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 2MP camera and a 25MP front-facing camera. OPPO K1 specifications 6.4-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED 19.5:9 2.5D curved glass display Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform (Quad 2.2GHz Kryo 260 + Quad 1.8GHz Kryo 260 CPUs) with Adreno 512 GPU 6GB / 4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ColorOS 5.2  Dual SIM 16MP rear camera with LED Flash, secondary 2MP camera 25MP front-facing camera In-display fingerprint sensor Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS 3600mAh battery The OPPO K1 comes in Van Gogh Blue and Mocha Red colors, and the company already said that it will cost less than Rs. 20,000. We will know the exact price when the phone is launched next Wednesday.

Nokia 8.1 6GB RAM, 128GB storage version launched in India for Rs. 29999

HMD Global launched Nokia 8.1, successor of Nokia 7 Plus in India in 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version in India for Rs. 26,999 last month. Now it has launched the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version in the country finally. Other specifications are similar, including the 6.18-inch Full HD+ 18.7:9 aspect ratio Puredisplay, Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform, Android 9.0 (Pie), 12-megapixel rear camera rear camera with ZEISS optics, Sony IMX363 sensor, f/1.8 aperture, OIS along with a 13-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots and zoom. The camera has AI scene detection to automatically detect 18 scenes. There is a 20-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture and pixel binding that can combine four pixels to form 1.8μm large pixel. It also has AI beauty and AI portrait Mode, 6 AI studio lights, AI expressions and new dual-view mode. It has a 6 series aluminum-magnesium alloy frame, glass back, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and packs a 3500mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Nokia 8.1 specifications 6.18-inch (2246 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ Puredisplay with 18.7:9 aspect ratio, 500 nits brightness, 96% NTSC Color gamut, DCI-P3, 1500:1 Contrast ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection Octa Core Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform (Dual 2.2GHz Kryo 360 + Hexa 1.7GHz ...

Google Arts & Culture update brings new camera button for AR, Material design and more

Google Explore Art and Culture app which uses augmented reality is getting a new update to its iOS and Android. It brings a new camera tab making AR features easily accessible. The Android version of the app brings a new bottom bar with Material Theme.  The Home, Explore, Nearby, and Profile section of the app are still accessible from the navigation drawer. However, a new addition to the bottom bar is the new Camera icon. The Art Projector shows you actual-size artworks in augmented reality right in front of you. You can also tap on your lookalike to discover more information about the work or the artist. Take a snapshot of anything around you and find colorful connections to art using Color Palette. It uses computer vision algorithms to find multiple artworks from around the world that exactly match the color in the photo you just snapped of. The new Camera tab will also include Pocket Gallery, a virtual exhibition space and experience that brings together all of Vermeer's known artworks in one place. Google Arts & Culture app update is now available on Android and iOS. Source

LG profit down 80% as smartphone sales continue to decline in Q4 2018

LG Electronics has reported revenues of 15.77 trillion won (US$ 13.99 billion) for the fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2018, which is down 7% compared to the same quarter last year, as expected. It posted profits of 75.7 bilion won (US$ 67.1 million), down 79.3% YoY, while net profit was down 80.7 billion won from 182.8 billion won a year earlier. Decrease in profits is due to primarily due to lower sales of mobile products, said LG. For the whole of 2018 it reported 61.3 trillion won (US$ 54.4 billion) revenue, same as 2017. Full-year profit of 2.70 trillion won (US$ 2.40 billion) is up 9.5% compared to 2017 with record profitability from appliances and home entertainment products. Mobile Communications sector reported a quarterly revenue of 1.71 trillion won (US$ 1.51 billion), down 16.1% QoQ and 41.4% YoY due to sluggish smartphone market and intensifying competition in mass-tier products. The Mobile sector posted a operating loss of 322.3 billion won (US$ 289.6 million), compared to loss of 216.3 billion won a year ago and 146.3 billion won loss it posted in Q3 2018. Full-year operating loss increased to 790.1 billion won (US$ 700.65 million). LG said that the loss in mobile sector widened as marketing ...

Saregama Carvaan Mini Bhakti with 300 devotional songs launched

Saregama has launched the Carvaan Mini Bhakti, it comes preloaded with 300 devotional songs and can be started with a just press of a button. Like other Carvaan devices, it does not need the internet or connectivity with your phone to play it.  The pre-loaded 300 songs are categorized by deities like Shiv, Ganesh, Krishna, Sai, Devi and Ram, Hanuman. The Carvaan Mini Bhakti also includes bhajans, aartis, mantras and more. It features like AM/FM, Bluetooth and a USB. This mini version of Carvaan can last up t0 4 hours and comes with a 6-month warranty. The Carvaan Mini Bhakti is priced at Rs. 2490 and will be available on Saregama website and retail outlets. Vikram Mehra, Managing Director, Saregama India said:  Carvaan is an undoubted success in India and expanding across the globe now. New variants of the product is launched based on our customer feedbacks and demands. We are proud to have constantly been able address the need between the demand and supply. With launch of a new variant – Carvaan Mini Bhakti, we hope the experience of listing to devotional songs is enhanced and made easier.

Sony Xperia XZ4 said to feature – 52MP main + 16MP telephoto and a ToF sensor

Sony is reportedly working on the XZ4 flagship which is rumored to launch at the MWC 2019 event in February. Before the official announcement, we see more details about the flagship surface. The Xperia XZ4 said to feature triple rear cameras.  The triple rear camera system on the XZ4 include a 16MP telephoto lens with f/2.6 aperture, a 52MP primary camera with f//1.6 aperture and finally a 0.3MP ToF sensor. The fact that the Xperia XZ4 comes with a 52MP sensor means that the 48MP sensor on the View20 or the Redmi Note 7 are no longer the highest regarding the number of pixels. The ToF sensor purpose is to raise the speed of autofocus. The CAD-based render was posted on Reddit based on the live-images that were leaked earlier. Furthermore, rumors also suggest that the XZ4 packs a ToF sensor on the front, however, the exact optic details are unknown at the moment. Since the information that surfaced is from various sources, there's no way to tell if they are legitimate, so it's just speculation at the moment. Source

Microsoft reports $32.5 billion revenue with 12% YoY growth in Q4 2018, LinkedIn revenue up 29%

Microsoft has announced final quarter results that ended on 31st December 2018. When compared to the last fiscal year, the revenue is increased by 12% resulting in $32.5 billion, operating income is $10.3 billion with an increase of 18%, the net income was $8.4 billion, and the diluted earnings per share were $1.08 GAAP and $1.10 non-GAAP%. Microsoft returned $9.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2019. The revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $10.1 billion and increased by 13%. The Office commercial products and cloud services revenue increased by 11% driven by Office 365 commercial revenue growth of 34%. Office consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 1% with growth in Office 365 consumer subscribers to 33.5 million. LinkedIn revenue increased 29% with record levels of engagement with 30% session growth. Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased by 17% driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 51%. Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $9.4 billion and increased by 20%. Windows OEM revenue declined by 5%. The Windows commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 13%. Gaming revenue increased 8% with Xbox software and services revenue growth of 31%. Search advertising revenue excluding ...

Startup India – WhatsApp Grand Challenge lets Startups win a total of $250,000

WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Business app and WhatsApp Business API last year.  In an effort to fuel the growth of India’s entrepreneurial and small business community, WhatsApp announced the partnership with Invest India on 31st October 2018. Today it has announced WhatsApp Grand Challenge for StartUps in partnership with Invest India. Entrepreneurs with highly innovative ideas, business models that solve for a local India problem, making a large scale socio-economic impact can apply latest by 10 March 2019, said the company. Applications will be evaluated by an independent evaluation committee being curated by StartUp India. The best 30 ideas will be shortlisted for the subsequent round and to 10 in the following round. The selected 10 ideas will be invited to participate at the live pitch day during the grand finale and will be announced in May 2019.  A total of $250,000 to the top 5 winners will be up for grabs. You can check out more details on Startup India website.

LG V50 ThinQ with 6-inch display, Snapdragon 855, 5G support said to be introduced at MWC 2019

LG is reportedly working on its first 5G smartphone; the LG V50 ThinQ which is rumored to go official at the MWC in February; earlier than Samsung Electronics first 5G model; the Galaxy S10 X. The company is said to announce two models of LG G8 ThinQ and LG V50 ThinQ at the International Conference Hall (CCIB) in Barcelona on April 24th. This is the first time LG's G and V series flagships are releasing together. The company finally decided to go 4G LTE route for the G8, and the V50 would be its first 5G phone. LG Electronics said to have disclosed major details including model name, function, and specification to three mobile communication companies. The LG V50 is said to sport a 6-inch display, Snapdragon 855, and a 4000mAh battery. LG already confirmed water-cooled cooling unit vapor chamber for the phone to overcome any heating problem. The V50 5G is scheduled to be launched in North America and Europe in March, beginning with three domestic telcos such as SK Telecom, KT, and LG U +. Sprint is confirmed to be another carrier in the USA. The V50 ThinQ 5G will be priced at between 13,00,000 korean won ($1,168 approx.) and 15,00,000 korean won ($1,349 approx.). The LTE model, ...

Google+ for consumers to shutdown on April 2nd 2019

Back in December 2018, Google announced that it will shut down Google+ for consumers in April 2019 due to low usage and challenges involved. The company confirmed that it will pull the plug on April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and the company will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted. However, the company is allowing users to download and save your content before April. Note that photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted. The process of deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, Google+ Pages, and Album Archive will take a few months, and content may remain through this time. As of February 4th, you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events. Starting early March 2019, additional data will be available for download, including author, body, and photos for every community post in a public community. If you sign in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-in button, these buttons will stop working in the coming weeks but in some cases may be replaced by a Google Sign-in button. ...

Apple’s 2020 iPhones said to feature 3D cameras in AR push

According to a latest Bloomberg report, Apple is said to be planning to launch iPhones with more-powerful 3D cameras as soon as 2020, pushing the company further into AR. The rear-facing, longer-range 3D camera is designed to scan the environment to create three-dimensional reconstructions of the real world. Furthermore, the 3D reconstructions of the real world work up to about 15 feet from the device compared to the current distance of 25 to 50 centimeters to power Apple’s Face ID facial-recognition feature. Apple’s new system uses a laser scanner, rather than the existing dot-projection technology which doesn’t work as well over long distances. This is one among the many features including a third-camera, enhanced photo-capture tools, and a more powerful chip, that Apple plans to include in-coming generations of iPhones. The laser-powered 3D camera would enhance augmented reality on the iPhone, allowing for more accurate depth perception and placement of virtual objects. Apple has been in talks with Sony for testing sensors for the new system. For 2019, Apple plans successors to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max -- code-named D42 and D43 and an update to the iPhone XR. The larger of the new high-end iPhones will have three cameras on the back, and the ...

Global smartphone shipments down 4.9% in Q4 2018, Samsung leads with 70.4 million, Huawei posts 43.9% YoY growth

According to IDC, worldwide smartphone shipments reached a total of 375.4 million units during the Q4, down 4.9% YoY. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of decline. This downfall also marks the worst year ever for smartphone shipments with global smartphone volumes declining 4.1% in 2018 with a total of 1.4 billion units shipped. With challenging market conditions, Q1 of 2019 is also expected to have a decline further. China, which is the largest focal point for smartphone shipment continues to downfall, thus pushing the recovery further forward. The Chinese market which accounts for roughly 30% of the world's smartphone consumption, had an even worse 2018 than the previous year with volumes down just over 10%. High inventory continues to be a challenge across the market as is consumer spending on devices, which has been down overall. Chinese vendors like Huawei, OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi – grew their share of the China market to roughly 78%, up from 66% in 2017. On a worldwide basis, the top 5 smartphone companies continue to get stronger and now account for 69% of smartphone volume, up from 63% a year ago. If vivo is included, which is currently number six and has been in and out of the ...

Honor View20 vs OnePlus 6T

Gone are the days where choosing a smartphone was a lot easier considering factors like the number of mobiles launched per year, OEM's and of course, the price point. Fast forwarding to 2019, the mobile phone has grown by leaps and bounds, evolving from the basic devices to the multifunctional smartphones. As the name insinuates, a smartphone is more than a mobile phone right now providing additional and essential features. While we used to shell out a lot of money for a feature-rich smartphone, it's just not the case right now. The best part is smartphone makers like Honor, the subsidiary of Huawei, and other OEM's has started offering amazing, feature-rich devices, in line with the latest trend at half a price of what we used to pay back then. Punch-hole / All-View display is the new Notch! One such device is the Honor View 20, the most recent outing from Honor's stable. Placed at mid-range flagship segment, View 20 is one of the first smartphones to possess a laser drilled hole for the front camera to provide a more screen-to-body ratio. Another fascinating part is its 48MP rear camera with Sony IMX586 that uses 4-in-1 light fusion that outputs better low-light images ...

Moto G7 Plus surfaces in live images revealing 27W Turbo Charging, OIS and more

As the launch of Moto G7 series smartphones is getting near, more details about the smartphone are surfacing online. After detailed specifications of the smartphones surfaced last week, now live images of the Moto G7 Plus have surfaced revealing support for 27W cast charging, compared to 15W charging other buget Moto phones. It also reveals support for optical image stabilisation (OIS) for the 16-megapixel rear camera. Moto G7 Plus rumored specifications 6.24-inch (2270 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 aspect display 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 509 GPU 4GB / 6GB RAM, 64GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Dual SIM Android 9.0 (Pie) 16MP rear camera with Dual LED flash, f/1.75 aperture, OIS, secondary 5MP camera with f/2.2 aperture 12MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 157×75.3×8.27mm; Weight: 172g Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS, USB Type-C 3,000mAh battery with 27W Turbo charging We should know all the details of the smartphone when it goes official next Thursday. Source

Samsung profits down 28.7% YoY in Q4 2018 on weak chip and phone sales

Samsung has reported its earnings for Q3 2018, in which the company has made operating profit of 10.80 trillion won ($9.7 billion), down 28.7% YoY, as expected, for the October to December 2018 period. This due to drop in demand for memory chips used in data centers and smartphones. "The System LSI and Foundry businesses also saw profits decline due to weak seasonality," added Samsung. It reported revenue of 59.27 trillion won, down 10% YoY from 65.98 trillion won last year. For 2018, Samsung reported 243.77 trillion won in revenue, up 2% and 58.89 trillion won in operating profit, up 9.76%, making it a record for the second straight year, even as unfavorable business and macroeconomic factors led to slower performance in the final quarter. IM sector that includes Mobile Communications and Networks Businesses posted 23.32 trillion won consolidated revenue, down 8.44% YoY and 1.51 trillion won operating profit for the quarter, down 37.6% compared to 2.42 trillion won in the same quarter last year. For 2018, the IM sector posted 10.17 won operating profit, down 14% compared to 2017. In Q4, operating profit decreased QoQ due to a decline in both smartphone sales volume and revenue amid a sluggish smartphone market overall despite strong seasonal demand. Samsung ...

Meizu Zero holeless smartphone crowdfunding campaign now open, to ship starting April

Last week Meizu inroduced Zero as the first smartphone without any ports or buttons. Today the company has started crowdfunding for the smartphone on Indiegogo at $1299 (Rs. 92,220 approx.). The crowdfunding will continue till March 1st, 2019. The company says that it will start small batch of production in April and start shipping limited number of units from April. It is not clear how the it will work in several counries since eSIM needs regulatory approval. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76cmqlVN2Go It has a ceramic 3D design, Pressure sensitive power and volume buttons with mEngine 2.0 linear haptic engine,  Meizu’s Super mCharge, 3-level buck and charge pump technology for 18W wirless fast charging since it doesn't have a USB Type-C port, while the built-in wireless chip with a specification of 60GHz, dedicated charging base and USB technology promsies the same bandwidth rates of USB 3.0 for data transfer. It has a waterproof body with IP68 ratings and uses mSound 2.0 screen sound technology that uses the phone’s screen as a speaker and the earpiece. It uses eSIM, so it gets rid of the SIM slot as well. Meizu Zero specifications 5.99-inch ( 1080 × 2160 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED display Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU Android-based Flyme 7 12MP ...

OnePlus is 2018’s best selling premium smartphone brand in India

When it comes to purchasing a smartphone, the majority of Indians consider the latest specifications or feature at a lower price as the main factor. To make it more clear - huge RAM, great processing power, good battery life and of course the amazing camera is preferred. While there are hit and miss with few manufacturers, there is OnePlus which checks all the boxes and for the right reasons. As a result, OnePlus has emerged as the best selling premium smartphone brand in 2018 in India, according to Counterpoint Market Monitor Service. According to Counterpoint’s Q4 2018 report, the company has also captured 36% of the premium smartphone market retaining its No. 1 position for the third quarter consecutively. In the same quarter, Apple and Samsung’s market share in the premium smartphone segment in India stood at 30% and 26% respectively. This was driven by strong demand of its latest OnePlus 6T during Diwali festive season. The momentum continues even after the festive season due to strong word of mouth and product feedback from the end users. Its latest expansion into offline space along with experience stores will help it to reach potential user base in coming quarters. Notably, OnePlus 6 was the highest-selling ...

OJOY A1 4G VoLTE Kids Smartwatch phone launched in India

NWSD technologies today launched OJOY A1 which it claims to be India's first 4G VoLTE smartwatch phone for Kids. It runs on Kido OS based on Android with animated UI that lets you swipe to access several features. Powered by Qualcomrn Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform it supports 4G LTE and 3G via a SIM slot for calling as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. GPS offers location tracking in real time as well as location history.    Two-way voice calling lets you keep in touch with your kids  You can set up to 10 members in the family list  and unlimited numbers of friends in the contacts . Calendar lets kids save schedule for school. You can also assign tasks to your child and give them reward stickers in the watch. The company says that it is designed to have much less radiation so it is safe for Kids. The company also added that the materials for body and straps are tested to be free from any hazardous materials OJOY A1 specifications 1.4-inch (320x320 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection Qualcomm SnapdragoWear 2100 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM Android-based Kiddo OS with Android and iOS companion apps Water Resistant (IP68) 2MP front camera ...

Lava Z92 Unboxing and First Impressions

Lava is no stranger to this market, but like sister-brand XOLO they've come back after a hiatus with a new device, the Z92 launched just yesterday. At Rs. 9,999, you get a big 6.22 inch full-view experience with a notch, a neat design that's clean and some decent specs to back it up. But the question is, as always, can the Lava Z92 survive in this heavily competitive market? Here are my first impressions of this device. First up, we have the box contents here. On the box, Lava says that the device is "Made in India" and that they're "proudly Indian". That's something I'd like to see more manufacturers do and I completely support the brand for doing almost everything here in India. You have all the usual accessories in the box, including earphones and as you can see, there is a dedicated micro SD slot apart from dual nano SIM slots. The glass is slightly curved at the edges (2.5D) which gives it a really neat look, plus it helps that the display is bright and colorful. The resolution is HD+ and while the viewing angles are not perfect, I found the display to be really bright and colorful. I ...

Airtel Digital TV now lets users scan QR code to switch to new plans

TRAI already announced that new DTH plans will come into effect starting February 1, 2019 allowing  TV viewers opt for only for the channels they want to watch. To make this switch easy for customers, Airtel Digital TV recently announced the a-la-carte pricing of the channels on its website last month. This will enable customers to easily switch their plans on Airtel website or the My Airtel App or by calling the customer care team. With an aim to make this transition even more convenient and seamless for its customers, Airtel has announced that users can now do a QR code scan on their television screen and follow the instructions to choose new plans. This offers recommended plans as per the new TRAI guidelines on channel number 998 on Airtel digital TV. You can view pricing for all the channels with its a-la carte price, select the channels you need and just scan the QR code shown to activate the selection. There is also an option to choose Airtel value plans which have been specially designed for customers based on the user's current channel selection or current monthly recharge value. After the channel or pack selection, customers have to just scan the QR code ...

Samsung Galaxy M20 Benchmarks – Exynos 7 Series 7904 Octa-Core processor

This week Samsung launched the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 smartphones in India. Even though we are already familar with the Exynos 7870 powering the M10 since it was introduced way back in 2016 and already powers the Samsung Galaxy J6, On Nxt and several smartphone, the new Exynos 7904 octa-core 14nm processor in the Galaxy M20 is new. It has two bigger ARM Cortex-A73 CPUs clocked at 1.8GHz power core and the six smaller ARM Cortex-A53 CPUs are clocked at 1.6GHz per core. It has Mali-G71 MP2GPU and has support for LPDDR4x memory. Check out the synthetic benchmark scores below. AnTuTu Benchmark 7 It scored 1,08,936 points in the AnTuTu Benchmark 7 and grabbed the fourth spot, behind the Zenfone Max Pro M1. Geekbench 4 Single-Core It scored 1318 points in the Geekbench 4 Single-Core benchmark and grabs the fourth spot, behind the Nokia 6.1 Plus. Geekbench 4 Multi-Core It managed to score 4121 points in the Geekbench 4 Multi-Core benchmark, and lies behind the Snapdragon-powered phones. 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited It scored 13223 points in the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited GPU benchmark. GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex OnScreen It clocked 1230 frames or 22 fps in the GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex OnScreen benchmark and grabbed the third spot. GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan OnScreen It clocked 713.9 frames or 12 fps in the GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan OnScreen benchmark, almost similar ...

ASUS launches new ZenBook 13, 14 and 15 with NanoEdge display in India starting at Rs. 71990

ASUS has launched new ZenBook series of laptops - ZenBook 13 (UX333), ZenBook 14 (UX433) and ZenBook 15 (UX533) in India, after they were introduced at the IFA last year. The ZenBook 13, 14 and 15 as per the company are world’s most compact 13.3-inch, 14-inch, and 15.6-inch laptops These come with frameless ASUS NanoEdge display with ultraslim bezels having a 95% screen-to-body ratio. These feature the latest quad-core 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with integrated Gigabit Wi-Fi optimized for Intel Wireless-AC 9560 and up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q graphics. The ScreenPad doubles up as a number pad ASUS ZenBook 13 UX333FN ASUS ZenBook 14 UX433FA ASUS Zenbook 15 UX533FD Display 13.3” FHD 14” FHD 15.6” FHD Processor quad-core Intel Core i7-8565U / Core i5-8265U processor quad-core Intel Core i7-8565U, 2GB NVIDIA GTX 1050 Max-Q RAM 8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 Storage PCIEG3x2 NVME 512GB / 256GB M.2 SSD PCIEG3x2 NVME 1TB M.2 SSD Interfaces 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C,1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1 x HDMI, 1 x MicroSD card reader 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x HDMI 1 x SD card reader Camera 3D IR HD camera Wireless Connectivity Dual-band 802.11ac gigabit-class Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 Battery 50Wh 3-cell ...

Apple hit with lawsuit over FaceTime issue: All you need to know

"Apple products are designed to protect your privacy. Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right." These are Apple's own words on security and privacy. In fact, a couple of years back, the Cupertino giant took press and said: "Apple is the most effective security organisation in the world." Well, fast forwarding to 2019, Apple Inc, was sued by a lawyer based out of Houston, who claims his iPhone allowed an unknown person to eavesdrop on his private communication with a client. For the uninitiated, Apple is being rigorously criticised for a bug in iOS 12.1 that lets random outsiders listen to the conversation during a live video chat using FaceTime feature. However, it doesn't end here as the bug additionally allowed the user to call someone on FaceTime and begin hearing the other person even before they picked it up. As per the report, Attorney Larry Williams II said the glitch intruded on the privacy of “one’s most intimate conversations without consent. Moreover, he claimed that he was eavesdropped while taking testimony during a client deposition. Williams is asking for unspecified punitive damages on his claims of negligence, product liability, misrepresentation and warranty breach, adds the report. However, Apple has mitigated the problem ...

Google revamps Gmail on Android and iOS: What’s new in the redesigned Gmail app?

Quite lately, Google has been revamping its entire set of products in an attempt to optimise and suite the latest trend. The search engine giant has recently made some notable changes in GDrive and Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites on the web. In the latest development, Google is bringing a new look to Gmail on mobile space, after rolling these to the Gmail web. According to the company, with new designs, you can quickly view attachments—like photos— without opening or scrolling through the conversation. Moreover, they have made it easier to switch between the accounts, in order to access emails without breaking a sweat. Secondarily, they have replaced the search button with a search bar at the screen top. Just like the web, users will get similar red warnings as an alert when something looks like a threat. With machine learning, Gmail can assist you to draft emails faster using Smart Compose, or reply to messages quicker with suggested responses generated by Smart Reply. It can also “nudge” you to follow up on emails with subtle reminders in your inbox and notify you to reply to threads so that you can prioritize what’s important or overdue. This update is part of a larger effort to bring the look and feel of G Suite apps together as a whole, and always with ease-of-use in mind. The company also stated, "In the coming weeks, you’ll see the new mobile design in Gmail on Android and iOS, with more G Suite mobile apps to follow later this year." Source

Apple reports $19.97 billion profit on $84.3 billion revenue in FY Q1 2019, iPhone revenue down 15% YoY

Apple has reported quarterly revenue of $84.3 billion, down 5% over last year with a net profit of $19.97 billion, almost same as last year and earnings per share of $4.18, an increase of 7.5% over last year in their earnings for the financial year Q1 2019 that ended December 2, 2018. During earnings call Tim Cook said that iPhone XR, iPhone Xs, and iPhone Xs Max are by far the best iPhones the company has ever shipped but iPhone revenue was down 15% from last year since its customers are holding on to their older iPhones a bit longer than in the past. iPhone results accounted for significantly more than the company's entire year-over-year revenue decline. It said that foreign exchange,  less subsidies and battery replacement program were the reasons for users to hold onto their existing iPhones a bit longer. U.S. revenue was up by more than $1.5 billion compared to a year ago and in several markets where revenue grew by double digits including among others Germany, Spain, Poland, Mexico, Malaysia and Vietnam. iPhone revenue down 15% from last year. Outside of iPhone, Apple's business grew strongly by 19% Services revenue reached an all-time high of $10.9 billion, up 19% over the ...

ASUS Zenfone 5Z Android 9.0 (Pie) global roll out begins [Download Link]

After rolling out Android 9.0 (Pie) update for the Zenfone 5Z in Taiwan last month, ASUS has finally started rolling out the update globally earlier this week, as it had promised. The latest Android Pie update brings several new features, including Adaptive Battery that uses machine learning to prioritize system resources for the apps, App Actions that helps you raise the visibility of your app and help drive engagement using machine learning, new Magnifier feature for easier copy-and-paste and lots more. The Zenfone 5Z Android Pie update has the version number 90.10.138.175 compared to 157 that rolled out in Taiwan and is 1080MB in size. You can download the full Zip here or incremental OTA from 90.10.138.157 or  80.30.96.221. The company promised Pie update for the Zenfone Max Pro M2 in January, but there is no sign of it as the month is going to end. Source 1, 2

Samsung starts mass production of first 1TB eUFS flash memory ahead of Galaxy S10 launch

Samsung  has announced that it has begun mass production of first 1TB flash storage for next-generation mobile devices and it utilizes  16 stacked layers of 512-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND chips. It uses the same 11.5mm x 13.0mm package as the previous 512GB version, but this uses a newly developed proprietary controller. This will allow users to store 260 10-minute videos in 4K UHD (3840×2160) format, compared to 13 videos of the same size in 64GB eUFS. The 1TB eUFS offers up to 1,000 megabytes per second (MB/s), offers up to 58,000 IOPS random read speed, which is up to 38 percent over the 512GB version and the random writes at up to 50,000 IOPS are 500 times faster than a high-performance microSD card (100 IOPS). Samsung said that it plans to expand the production of its fifth-generation 512Gb V-NAND at its Pyeongtaek plant in Korea throughout the first half of 2019 to bring the 1TB eUFS to smartphones. Last year's Samsung Galaxy Note9 was introduced in 512GB version for the first time, and the 1TB storage will likely debut with the Galaxy S10+ next month, which is also rumored to come with 12GB of RAM. Samsung has also listed its journey from eMMC 4.5 with ...

Gmail down in India and parts of Europe as users face log-in issues [Update: It’s back]

Update: Several users have started reporting that they are able to log-in and are not facing 404 issue anymore. Google's Gmail is reportedly facing outage in parts of the world with users reporting ‘404 Error’ while trying to log in to the site. However, other products including YouTube, News seem unaffected. Gmail is currently down in India and some part of Europe for more than half an hour. Hi there. Currently, there are no disruptions. Could you try clearing the browser cache and cookies to see if that helps: https://t.co/0qpxh9xK73? Keep us posted. — Gmail (@gmail) January 29, 2019 However, unaware of the issue, Google claims that there are no disruptions. The Gmail for Android and iOS are also working just fine, meaning the issue is restricted to the desktop version. According to Downdetector.com, the Gmail is having issues since 6:16 AM EST (around 4:46 PM IST, Tuesday.) Breaking down the issue, 42% problem was during log-in, while 31% of users reported they could not receive messages and about 25% of users reported a problem with the website. Users have taken to Twitter to bring the outage to everyone's notice. We're sure Google would fix the issue soon enough.

Samsung 8K display driver IC with data speeds of up to 4Gbps announced

Samsung Electronics has announced an 8K display driver IC (DDI) that helps deliver true-to-life 8K resolution with intra-panel data transfer speed at up to 4-gigabit-per-second (Gbps). It adopts the company's Unified Standard Interface for TV (USI-T) 2.0. The boost in the DDI’s data transfer capability enhances the efficiency of a display’s system performance and reduces the need for additional components. The company says that it also allows more streamlined product designs for slim bezel-less TVs with display sizes 65-inches and above. The 8K DDI’s advanced performance at 4Gbps intra-panel interface speed minimizes the added clutter around the display panel that offers more freedom in premium 8K TV designs. The updated interface also supports a smart equalizer (EQ) feature that utilizes two-way channels between the timing controller (TCON) and individual DDIs. The smart EQ can program all DDIs in a panel simultaneously, reducing the possibility of bit errors and resources that are required for panel production. The Samsung's 8K DDI samples as well as licensing for the USI-T 2.0 intra-panel interface are currently available. Ben K. Hur, senior vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics said: To deliver true 8K resolution, it is essential for today’s DDIs to support a high-speed 4Gbps intra-panel interface. ...

Jaybird RUN XT true wireless sports headphones announced

Jaybird has announced the Jaybird RUN XT True Wireless Sport Headphones that come with IPX7 waterproof and sweatproof and new color options. The headphones are protected by a double hydrophobic nano-coating.  The Jaybird RUN XT True Wireless Sport Headphones come with interchangeable silicone ear tips and fins that securely fit almost any ear. Thanks to Siri and Google Assistant support, you can control music, take calls and more at the push of a button. The company claims that it can provide 12 hours of playtime, with four hours in the buds and an additional eight hours in the carrying case. A five-minutes quick charge provides a full hour of playtime. The Jaybird App allows you to fully customize your music experience by adjusting the EQ - pump up the bass or crank the treble with your own settings or choose from hundreds of others shared within the Jaybird community. It comes with Spotify integration making it easy to listen to your playlists and discover others. The app also features a Find My Buds feature to help you locate them in case they go missing. Jaybird also announced that it will also debut a new podcast playlist feature on the app in early February. Jaybird RUN XT True Wireless ...

Vivo to launch pop-up camera phone in India on February 20, V15 Pro expected

Vivo India today sent out invites for the launch of a new smartphone with a pop-up camera on February 20th. This could be the rumored V15 Pro, successor of the V11 Pro that was launched in India back in September last year. A recent case leak revealed that the phone will feature triple rear cameras and there is a opening on the top that will let you raise the camera for capturing selfies. This is defeinitely an unique design. It will likely come with a FullView display with minimal bezels and an in-display fingerprint scanner, similar to the predecessor. The mid-range smartphone is said to be priced under Rs. 30,000, similar to the V11 Pro, and it said to launch as X25 in China around the same time or in early March. We should know more details about the smartphone in the coming weeks.

Honor Band 4 Running with 0.5-inch OLED screen, 50-meter water resistance announced in India for Rs. 1599

Huawei's Honor Brand, along with the Honor View20 and the Honor Watch Magic, also introduced the Honor Band 4 Running Edition, after it launched the Honor Band 4 in the country last month. It has a 0.5-inch POLED display and comes with 6-axis sensor that offers improved running detection by measuring cadence, step length, ground contact time, foot strike pattern, landing impact, eversion excursion and swing angle There is also a foot mode that lets you attach the band to your shoes using the shoe buckle. The upgraded running posture algorithm raises the accuracy of running distance mesasured to over 95% says Honor.  It is also water resistant up to 50 meters. The 77mAh battery promises up to 20 days of standby and up to two weeks of battery life. Honor Band 4 Running specifications 0.5-inch (88 x 48 pixels) POLED display Bluetooth 4.2 LE, Compatible with Android 4.4 (or later) or iOS 9.0 (or later) Pedometer, Sleep tracker, Exercise tracker, Sedentary reminder Call and Message notification, Call rejection and mute 6-Axis motion sensor, Running Monitoring Algorithm Water and dust resistant (50 meter / 5 ATM) Dimensions: 16.9 x 39 x 14.8mm; Weight: ~ 15g 77mAh battery with up to 20 days of standby, 14 days usage The Honor Band 4 ...

Honor Watch Magic with 1.2-inch AMOLED display, Swimproof design, Heart rate monitor, GPS announced in India starting at Rs. 13999

Huawei’s Honor Brand has announced Honor Watch Magic smartwatch in India along with the Honor View20. It was introduced back in November last year, sports a 1.2-inch (390 x 390 pixels) AMOLED color display with 326 PPI pixel density and incorporates a dual-crown design with 9.8mm stainless steel case. It has a heart rate sensor on the back. The body is made of 316L cold forged stainless steel and Black and Red, two-tone finish on its silicone strap. It can simultaneously tap into GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO, three of the major satellite positioning systems, for precise positioning. It also supports all-round sports activity tracking including indoor exercises, outdoor running, mountain climbing, cycling, and open water swimming. It comes with TruSeen 3.0 heart rate monitoring technology tracks the user’s active and resting heart rate. Combining innovative PPG optical and hardware design and AI algorithms, the solution can monitor the heart rate of users in real time with high precision. The TruRelax Technology analyses heart rate variability and accesses your stress status. Honor Watch Magic specifications 1.2-inch (390 x 390 pixels) AMOLED touch display, 326 PPI ARM M4 SoC with 16MB RAM and 128MB storage Bluetooth 4.2 that connects to Android 4.4 and above iOS 9.0 devices 5ATM Water-resistant up to 50 meters ...

HONOR View20 Review – Trendiest Value Flagship

There's a reason why this category exists - the value flagship. It's because actual flagships have gotten so damn costly. Let's not straight away blame the brands, as we all know how costly research and development is. But over the years we've seen how, as the flagship cycle progresses, there are sweet spots of opportunity where the same brands can bring innovation to the masses. The View20 hits that sweet spot, the perfect coming together of innovation and value, as HONOR begins 2019 with one of the "trendiest" value flagships ever made. It's going to be hard to compete with this one. Let me explain why. Disclaimer: I'll not be going deep into the specifications for this review. In case you want to brush up, read the launch post and my first impressions here. Pricing - Rs. 37,999 (6+128), Rs. 45,999 (8+256) Let's begin with one of the hottest display trends of this year, the punch-hole. This trend begins with the HONOR View20. We've seen various types of notches over 2018, but 2019 is going to be the year of the punch-hole. Right now, the View20 is the only smartphone in the Indian market if you're looking to jump on this trend. Honestly, notches ...

HONOR View20 with 6.4-inch All-View Display, 48MP + 3D TOF dual rear cameras launched in India starting at Rs. 37999

Huawei’s HONOR brand just launched the HONOR View20 smartphone in India, as it had promised. It was introduced as V20 in China last month and was introduced for global markets at an event in Paris last week. It packs a 6.4-inch Full HD+ All-View Display with 91.82% screen-to-body ratio, 25-megapixel front camera with just 4.5mm cut out, is powered by Kirin 980 SoC with GPU Turbo 2.0,  The NINE liquid cooling, up to 8GB of RAM, 48-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX586 1/2-type (8.0 mm diagonal) sensor, uses 4-in-1 light fusion that outputs better low-light images at 12MP resolution. It also has a TOF 3D secondary rear camera that lets you play games using 3D gesture recognition by capturing body movements. It has a V-shaped texture on the glass back, metal frame, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 4000mAh battery with support for fast charging. HONOR View20 specifications 6.4-inch (1080 x 2310 pixels) FHD+ LCD IPS display with 96% NTSC Color Gamut HUAWEI Kirin 980 (2 x Cortex A76 2.6 GHz + 2 x Cortex A76 1.92 GHz + 4 x Cortex A55 1.8 GHz) processor with  720 MHz ARM Mali-G76MP10 GPU 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB storage / 8GB LPDDR4x RAM with 256GB storage Android 9.0 (Pie) with Magic UI 2.0 Dual ...

Apple said to roll out its streaming service by mid-April

Apple said to be aiming to have its video streaming service ready for launch in mid-April, according to reports. Furthermore, Apple has been in talks with entertainment companies who will have content available through the service to be ready for a launch in mid-April. The mid-April launch falls in line with previous rumors that have suggested Apple's streaming service could launch early in 2019. The service is believed to feature Apple's own content along with content from third-party companies like HBO and STARZ. Apple is planning to make the service available through its existing TV app. Some of Apple's own content will be provided to Apple users for free. While the service is said to be launching in the United States first, Apple has plans to expand it to more than 100 countries during 2019. The company currently has over two dozen original TV shows in the works, many of which have entered the casting phase and are likely close to being filmed if the filming has not already started. Apple has also signed deals for multiple movies and has brought on well-known TV producers like Jason Katims and Justin Lin for exclusive TV shows and movies. The content ranges from dramas and comedies to children's shows and science fiction. It needs to ...

US files criminal charges against Huawei over sanctions violations and technology theft

The United States has announced that it is filing criminal charges against China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, pushing a fight against the world's biggest telecommunications equipment maker. However, Huawei denies of any wrongdoings and this comes days before the trade talks with Beijing.  The Justice Department has charged Huawei and its chief financial officer for conspiring and violating U.S. sanctions on Iran by doing business through a subsidiary it tried to hide. The Justice Department has also filed a case against Huawei claiming that it stole robotic technology from T-Mobile US Inc. However, the company said that it settled their dispute in 2017. Huawei said it was “disappointed” to learn of the charges. It said it had sought to discuss them with U.S. authorities “but the request was rejected without explanation.” The Company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations, is not aware of any wrongdoing, and believes that the U.S. courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion. China’s foreign ministry expressed “grave concern” and urged the United States drop the arrest warrant of the CFO Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and end “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese companies. This new development is most likely ...

Bluetooth 5.1 adds ‘direction-finding’ for improved location accuracy

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced a new direction-finding feature that is aimed at enhancing the performance of the Bluetooth location services solutions. The new feature allows devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal, thereby enabling the development of Bluetooth proximity solutions that can understand device direction as well as Bluetooth positioning systems. By including the new direction-finding feature, Bluetooth proximity solutions can add device direction capability. For example, an item finding solution could not only let a user know when a personal property tag is nearby but also in what direction. The Bluetooth positioning systems can achieve meter-level accuracy when determining the physical location of a device. By adding the new direction-finding feature, these positioning systems could improve their location accuracy down to the centimeter-level. The direction finding feature is included in version 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification, which is currently only available to developers. In addition, the Bluetooth SIG tool used to qualify new Bluetooth products is being updated to support this feature and will also be available to developers starting today. Fabio Belloni, chief customer officer and co-founder of Quuppa said: Bluetooth has emerged as the technology of choice for location services, allowing companies to build robust, ...

Lava Z92 with 6.22-inch 19:9 FullView display, Helio P22 Octa-Core 12nm SoC launched for Rs. 9999

Lava has launched Z92, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in the ‘Z Series’. It  packs a  6.22-inch HD+ screen with 19:9 aspect ratio, is powered by MediaTek Helio P22 Octa-Core 12nm SoC with 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, portrait mode and a 8-megapixel front camera with support for face unlock. The gaming mode lets you play interruption from incoming calls or messages which can be managed while still playing the game. It runs Android 8.1 (Oreo), comes with dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots, has a rear mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 3260mAh battery that promises battery life of up to 1.5 days. Lava Z92 specifications 6.22-inch (1520×720 pixels) HD+ 19:9 IPS 2.5D curved glass display 2GHz Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P22 (MT6762) 12nm processor with 650MHz IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Dual SIM Android 8.1 (Oreo) 13MP rear camera with dual LED flash 8MP front-facing camera Fingerprint sensor 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS 3260mAh battery The Lava Z92 comes in Ocean Blue with Black gradient finish, is priced at Rs. 9999 and is available from offline stores. It comes with Rs. 2200 Cashback for Jio users in the form ...

Dropbox acquires eSignature startup HelloSign for $230 million

Dropbox, Inc. has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire HelloSign which is an eSignature and document workflow platform with more than 80,000 customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Dropbox will acquire HelloSign for $230 million in cash. The agreement is subject to customary purchase price adjustments and closing conditions. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2019. HelloSign confirmed that there won’t be any changes to the day-to-day experiences with the company's products. HelloSign would continue to operate as normal within Dropbox. Drew Houston, Dropbox Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer said: With over an exabyte of data on our platform, millions of people already use Dropbox as a place to collaborate on their most important content. We’re thrilled to welcome HelloSign’s talented team to Dropbox and add their capabilities to our product suite. HelloSign has built a thriving business focused on eSignature and document workflow products that their users love. Together, we can deliver an even better experience to Dropbox users, simplify their workflows, and expand the market we serve. Joseph Walla, HelloSign Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer We waste so much time using clunky tools that were designed for yesterday’s work environment. Over the past 10 years, Dropbox has built a trusted global brand focused on transforming people’s working lives. We share a design philosophy ...

Apple said to be planning on gaming subscription service

According to reports, Apple is said to be planning a subscription service for games. The service would function like Netflix for games, allowing users who pay a subscription fee to access a bundled list of titles. The Cupertino company said to have begun privately discussing the subscription service with game developers in the second half of 2018. It’s unclear how much the subscription will cost or what kind of games Apple will offer. The service is still in the early stages of development, and there's a fair chance that Apple could ultimately decide to abandon it. The company has also discussed partnering with developers as a publisher signaling Apple’s ambition to assume a distribution, marketing, and other related costs for select games. The move to create a gaming subscription service comes as Apple faces pressure to grow its services business as its hardware declines, slowing down Apple's momentum. The iPhone-maker is also developing a slew of original shows for a video streaming service, partnering with carriers to boost the subscriber base for Apple Music, and is also planning to release a news subscription service this year. Apple currently takes a 30% cut of App Store purchases but lowers that fee to 15% after the first ...

Apple acknowledges FaceTime bug that lets you hear audio of the other person before they pick up, fix coming in a week

Apparently, a bug on the Apple's FaceTime lets you call anyone with FaceTime, and immediately hear the audio coming from their phone even before the receiver on the other end has accepted or rejected the incoming call. However, Apple was quick to act on it and has taken Group FaceTime offline and will address the issue with a software update later this week.  Quite naturally, the bug poses a serious privacy issue as you can essentially listen in on any iOS user just by FaceTime calling. While it still rings like normal, so you can't be 100% cover about it. What makes it worse is that there is no indication on the recipient’s side that you could hear any of their audio. Furthermore, the bug doesn't stop here, there's a second part to it which can expose video too. This bug affects any pair of iOS devices running iOS 12.1 or later. Start a FaceTime Video call with an iPhone contact, while it is ringing, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and tap Add Person. Now, add your own phone number in the Add Person screen and then you will then start a group FaceTime call including yourself and the audio of ...

Look forward for the New Smartphone by OPPO with in-screen fingerprint sensor in India soon

The New series by OPPO will hit the Indian market soon. This time OPPO is bringing in a distinctive series which is catering to a melange of consumers across geographical and economic boundaries. The USP of OPPO’s new handset is the presence of ‘in-screen fingerprint sensor’. OPPO has already launched the phone in its home country in October last year, which has proved to be a grand success. OPPO has one of the most desirable and best specs in the smart phone segment in India. The new series is said to be priced less than Rs. 20,000 as the value chain for e-commerce is cheaper than traditional offline space – hence the benefit of savings can be passed on to the customers with better value product. The meteoric rise of smart phone sales in India is backed by the whopping growth of virtual shopping mode among Indian buyers. OPPO has been a pioneer in the offline segment since last 5 years and also has substantial online presence on all major virtual shopping sites. The rising online trends show that total retail market is expected to grow. “We have consolidated our position as an offline player, now is the right time to put our ...

OnePlus 6 and 6T OxygenOS beta update brings landscape quick reply, OnePlus Laboratory for OnePlus 6 and more

OnePlus has released fourth OxygenOS open beta update for the OnePlus 6T and beta 12 for the OnePlus 6 that brings several improvements, including new quick reply support in landscape mode so that you can reply to new messages when you receive a message from WhatsApp or other landscape apps. The update also improves Gaming mode, brings screenshot optimizations and adds OnePlus Laboratory to the OnePlus 6 which lets you enable new Smart Boost feature that improves app and game loading times by optimizing the RAM. The latest OxygenOS beta update for the OnePlus 6 and 6T is 300MB in size. If you had already flashed previous beta build, you will get an OTA update, otherwise you have to flash the full beta ROM from here. Check out the complete changelog below. System Added OnePlus Laboratory for OnePlus 6 Optimizations for screenshot function Support for quick reply in landscape mode - now easier to reply to new messages when watching videos Gaming mode enhancement Clock Now supports world clock with weather information Source 1, 2

Samsung Galaxy M20 Unboxing and First Impressions

The new M series from Samsung is all about addressing the needs of the Indian market. Our demographic is such that Samsung has decided to launch this series here first, starting with the M10 and the M20. We'd seen the first impressions of the Galaxy M10, now it's the Galaxy M20's turn. This device, at a great starting price of Rs. 10,990 (3/32) and Rs. 12,990 (4/64), aims to compete in the most hotly contested smartphone segment in our country. I was lucky enough to test the device just before launch and here are my first impressions. Unlike the M10, the Samsung Galaxy M20 comes with a USB-C port and a 15W (9V-1.67A / 5V-2A) fast charger. This makes the presence of a 5,000 mAH battery even better, which brings us to the specifications of this device - Samsung Galaxy M20 Specifications 6.3-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ TFT 19.5:9 TFT display Octa-Core Exynos 7904 14nm processor with Mali-G71 GPU 3GB RAM with 32GB storage / 4GB RAM with 64GB Storage, expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card Android 8.1 (Oreo) Dual SIM 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture, 5MP ultra-wide angle camera 8MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture ...

Samsung Galaxy M10 Unboxing and First Impressions

Samsung has been teasing the new M series on social media for a while now. It is a global series of devices that is launching first in India, and is specifically "Made for India". Well the soft launch has happened today and we have two new devices in the market, the Galaxy M10 and the Galaxy M20. These devices are entirely focused on the mid range segment, which is the most hotly contested in India, no doubt. Aimed at "Millennials", which I think is a code-word for high-demand expectations when it comes to value for money, how well do these devices cater? I've been lucky enough to try them before launch. At Rs. 7,990 (2/16) and Rs. 8,990 (3/32), the Galaxy M10 is the cheaper of the two, here are my first impressions. For under 10k INR, it is necessary that we set our expectations right. With that said, let's look at the specifications. Samsung Galaxy M10 Specifications 6.2-inch (1520 × 720 pixels) HD+ 19.5:9 TFT display Octa-Core Exynos 7870 14nm processor with Mali-G71 GPU 2GB RAM with 16GB storage / 3GB RAM with 32GB Storage, expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Samsung Experience 9.5 Dual SIM ...